Thomas Nepveu racing at legendary Road America. June 17 to 20, 2021 - Rounds 9 & 10 - Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

Thomas Nepveu will race on another new track for him this weekend: the fantastic Road America layout with 14 turns spread over 4.0 miles (6.44 km) and a lap record speed for a USF2000 of 112 mph (180km/h). The young driver and his Cape Motorsports team will compete in rounds 9 and 10 of the 18-event Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship.

This weekend marks the mid-point of the 2021 season, and Thomas Nepveu has gained experience so far this year on all types of track layouts and corners, from tight to medium, and especially high speeds such as at the Lucas Oil Raceway oval and the Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit. As he has done for every event so far, Thomas Nepveu has worked hard on his preparation according to the track characteristics using simulation and the exhaustive material prepared by his team, Cape Motorsports. 

"I have been working on the simulator to understand the long and quick corners, how to re-accelerate as early as possible out of the corners followed by long straights and on making the most out of the aerodynamic effects at high speeds, to overtake or to make life difficult for the drivers behind me to pass. I'm getting more and more confident in my #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car, and I know that Cape Motorsports is going to give us fast cars," said the driver ready for top-5 finishes in the two races scheduled for this weekend. 

"Road America is one of the Classic American road courses, the racing is always exciting, mostly because it's one of the few remaining tracks that has multiple sections the drivers can overtake on, Thomas has improved at each race this season and I am sure he will excel at Road America," explains Dominic Cape, president of Cape Motorsports. 

Road America is located North of Milwaukee (Wisconsin) in a national park (Kettle Moraine) and is reminiscent of the Circuit du Mont-Tremblant and of Spa-Francorchamps, two other mythical layouts set in the Laurentian Mountains (North of Montreal, Canada) and in the Ardennes Mountains (Eastern Belgium).

Weekend Schedule (EDT)

• Thursday, June 17: Test Session 1 - 9 :50 -10:50 AM | Test Session 2 - 2:10 - 3:10 PM
• Friday, June 18: Practice 1 - 9:00 - 9:30 AM | Qualifying 1 - 12:30 - 1:00 PM | Qualifying 2 - 4:30 - 4:50 PM
• Saturday, June 19: Race 1 - 12:15 - 12:55 PM (12 laps - 40 min.)
• Sunday, June 20: Race 2 - 9:00 - 9:40 AM (12 laps - 40 min.)

Live Timing: Road to Indy TV application Cooper Tires USF2000 site

Breakfast Club of Canada

Thomas Nepveu is honoured to join to the Breakfast Club of Canada cause. He will add his name to a list of ambassadors dedicated to highlighting food insecurity among Canadian children and will participate in various fundraising events.

To make a donation on Thomas Nepveu's page: https://give.breakfastclubcanada.org/thomas-nepveu-pilote-de-course-professionnel-et-ambassadeur-du-club

Thomas Nepveu 2021 Results - Cooper Tires USF2000 Series

Photo Credit: Gavin Baker Photography

Partners - Brief Outlines
(Click on links for additional information)

Cromwell
Cromwell is a private real-estate company active since 1986 in the multi-residential, office and commercial/ shopping centre segments. 

Karting Excellence
A major reseller of sophisticated, up-to-date kart simulators, as well as offering driving courses for simulated racing, and kart track software development, based on liDAR technology.

Richelieu Hardware
Richelieu Hardware is the leading distributor of hardware products in North America, with over 80 points-of-sale across the continent.

Pétrole Bélanger
Transport, maintenance and delivery of petroleum and propane gas products to residential, commercial, and agriculture customers in the major Quebec regions for more than 65 years!

Home Hardware
With more than 1,000 independently owned outlets, Home Hardware is the most important distributor of renovation products in Canada.

Hamster
The largest Canadian-owned distributor of office products, which includes the Novexco commercial division. 

PL-100
PL-100 with anti-friction treatment is the best all-purpose penetrating lubricant on the market. Its action is faster, longer lasting and more efficient than that of its competitors. PL-100 is a product from Prolab, a family-owned Quebec company established in 1985.

Ionik
This Quebec-based maker of sports-oriented clothing places a special emphasis on respect for the environment. 

Centre de Médecine sportive de Laval
The Centre de Médecine sportive de Laval uses over 100 health professionals to deliver personalized medical services of the highest order to athletes of all levels.

King Canada
Canada's leading distributor of woodworking, metalworking, automotive and material handling machinery, tools, equipment and accessories.

Festidrag Development
Under the leadership of Martin D'Anjou, this production and promotion house assist in the development of Canadian drivers' careers, on as well as off the tracks.

Additional Information

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

Managed and promoted by Andersen Promotions, LCC, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship is the first step in the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires, and leads on to more advanced stages in quicker, more competitive series: the Indy Pro F2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including the Indianapolis 500 and the top level in single-seater car racing in America. The champions of the three lower series earn major scholarships each year to help fund their next season in the Road to Indy program.

The Road to Indy Program

The Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires program offers an entry level series into professional racing, the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. From there, drivers move on to the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, which uses a more refined and quicker version of the USF2000 car. The drivers then move on to the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires Series, using a much more powerful, much quicker and more complex car to set up and drive, in preparation for their move to America's top single-seaters, the super-fast NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

The Cooper Tires USF2000 Car

This series uses a standardized Tatuus USF-17 chassis which delivers an exciting level of performance and is a logical step up from the lower learner series to continue the development of young drivers. 

The car features:

• A carbon fibre and aluminum honeycomb safety cell for the driver and the fuel tank, and carbon-fibre bodywork and wings
• A sealed two-litre (175 HP) engine and a six-speed sequential gearbox with steering-mounted paddle shifters 
• Adjustable suspensions and front-rear brake bias
• Bespoke Cooper Tires
• A dry weight of 500 kg 

Thomas Nepveu Career Path and Results

Born in Oka (Quebec), Thomas Nepveu has always shown a great interest in extreme sports, starting with small motorcycles on dirt tracks. He quickly moved on to karts first in the Montreal area, then on to provincial and national series in Canada, on to the United States, Europe and other continents.

2020

• Single seater debut in the Mexican F4 series at the Autodromo de Querétaro, Mexico
• 1 victory and 2 podiums out of 3 F4 races
• Victory in the ROK Fest East series - Charlotte (NC) (ROK Senior class)
• 6^th out of 52 entries, one pole from 3 races in ROK Cup Florida Winter Tour
• 6^th and 1 podium (3^rd) out of 4 races in the SKUSA Winter Series
• 8^th and 2 poles out of 6 races in the SKUSA Pro Tour

2019

• Transition to Rotax Senior class
• Canadian Karting Champion
• Canadian Shifter Open Champion
• Two top-5 finishes in the SKUSA Pro Tour (Senior class)
• Qualified for the Final in the WSK Euro Series (Sarno, Italy) 

2018

• US Open Champion
• 3^rd in the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour series
• 4^th in the Max Challenge class at the Rotax Grand Final (Brazil)
• 15^th in the CIK-FIA World Championship OKJ (Sweden)
• 5^th in the ROK the Rio (Las Vegas)

2017

• Transition year to the Junior class (12 to 16)
• 1st in the Florida Winter Tour (2^nd round)
• 2^nd in the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship  

2016

• Debut with PSL Karting
• Youngest driver (11) on the Canadian Karting Team
• Champion in the Eastern Canadian Karting Championship with 7 victories in 7 races, a first in this event
• Champion at the Mini Swift Super Nationals
• Runner-up in the Mini Max world championship
• Team Canada finishes first of 54 countries in the Rotax World Championships with Thomas Nepveu the top Canadian finisher in the Mini-Max class

2015

• Transition year (11 to 13 age group)
• Quebec Cup runner-up
• 4^th in the Eastern Canada Championship
• 3^rd in the Canadian Championship

2014

• Quebec Cup champion
• Eastern Canada champion
• 3^rd in the Canadian Championship
• 3^rd in the Florida Winter Series (first podium for Thomas Nepveu in the United States)

2013

• Wins all Canadian championships in the 9-year-old class
• Quebec Cup champion
• Western Canada champion
• Eastern Canada champion
• 6^th in the Micro Max class at the Rotax Grand Finals in New Orleans, Louisiana

2012

• First year in racing, in the Micro Max class, in Quebec and Ontario
• 5^th in the Quebec Cup