Thomas Nepveu wins his first race in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship at Road America

What a race for Thomas Nepveu and his #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car prepared by Cape Motorsports, who took his first Cooper Tires USF200 Series win today at the legendary Road America track near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The young rookie, making his first visit to this track, showed how effective his learning has been since the beginning of the season, leading 9 of the 12 race laps and putting up a veteran-like battle with an opponent before winning right at the finish.

"After qualifying 7th on Friday, I knew my #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car was competitive. With a set of new tires for the second race, I was confident. I had a good start to get to 4^th place and then a great restart on the 4^th lap to take the lead and to keep it until the checkered flag. Thanks to all my partners and my team Cape Motorsports", said Thomas Nepveu with enthusiasm from the podium.

The 4-mile layout with three long straights and sweeping bends puts an emphasis on smoothness in and out of corners that lead onto the straightaways to ensure the best possible top speed. Thomas Nepveu's last race, on the Lucas Oil Raceway oval, was an excellent preparation for these high-speed manoeuvres.

This was Thomas Nepveu's first visit to this track, and he had the opportunity to learn the racing lines and reference points over two one-hour test sessions on Thursday. Covering a total of 36 laps, Thomas ended up 10^th quickest in the second session after improving his time from the first session by 0,58 sec, an excellent performance.

The Friday morning official practice sessions brought another quantum improvement, as Thomas ran 9 laps over the 30-minute session, ending up 7^th, only 0.1170 sec. behind the quickest car in the session. In addition, Thomas Nepveu was running quicker and quicker laps at the end of the session, with his last lap being his quickest of all despite tires that were showing more and more wear.

After a frustrating 13^th place result in Q1, a mere second off pole time, the team decided to let the #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car out late in the second session (Q2) session in the hope that the chances of benefitting from an aerodynamic "tow" were greater. The strategy worked as Nepveu rose to the challenge and turned in the 7^th quickest lap on his second timed lap. He covered only four timed laps in the session, ending up in a good starting position for Race 2 and with a set of little-used tires that may come in handy for a race.

Race 1 - 11^TH place
Thomas Nepveu moved up to 10^th place from 13^th on the grid at the start and spent the rest of the 12-lap race there, save for crossing the line in 9^th place on lap 5. Thomas Nepveu kept improving over the second half of the race, setting his six progressively "quickest lap" of the race on six consecutive laps (Laps 6 to 11). This showed a steady improvement after a busy early race that included some aggressive passing on a restart after the single caution period.

Race 2 - VICTORY
What a race! Thomas Nepveu said yesterday that he was happy with his 7^th place on the grid after Q2. But he certainly had some big plans for the race. After jumping to 4^th by the end of lap1, a master move allowed him to pass the three-car pack in front of him and jump into the lead by the end of lap 4.

The rest of the 12-lap race was a demonstration of Thomas Nepveu's skill, precision, concentration, management of his aerodynamics, clean and error-free driving right to the end. Thomas kept his cool late in the race during a two-car-wide attack from second-place finisher Simon Sikes and won the race by 0,0679 sec. in a side-by-side finish.

This was the first Podium finish and the first win for the rookie driver from Oka (Quebec, Canada.) and a great display of this promising driver aboard a perfectly prepared car by Cape Motorsports. The win puts Thomas Nepveu second in the Rookie-of-the-Year contest, just 28 points behind the leader and his teammate Spyke Kohlbecker.

Thomas Nepveu's Point Of View

"We had two sets of new tyres for Thursday's practice, and I worked on learning the track and more importantly working to set myself up to take the best possible advantage of slipstreaming along the three long straightaways. It worked as we finished Thursday's second session in seventh place, one tenth of a second off the fastest car in my #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car.

"We'll see how the start of the first race goes, as I'm a little bit off (13th) from the pole on the grid. I feel much more confident for Sunday's race, as my 7th place on the grid makes a top-5 finish possible.

"I started Race 1 from 13^th place with four tires that we had used in Q1, leaving me with a full set of new ones for Race 2. The car worked perfectly, and I was able to move up to 11th place and keep it right to the end of the race. I expect a better result tomorrow," explained Thomas Nepveu, the only Canadian to take part in this series.

Next Event - July 1 to 4 - Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course (Lexington, Ohio)

The team will be back in action next July 1 to 4 on another classic road course, the 2.6-mile, 13-turns Mi-Ohio Sportscar Course.

The layout of Mod-Ohio is very different from Elkhart Lake, featuring only one real straight with a slow entry speed, then a series of 7 changes of direction strung together that require constant attention from the driver to always be in the correct line for entry into the coming corner and exit to be well placed for the next one yet. No time to relax on this busy little layout.

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: CoForce

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. 

Cape Motorsports
Cape Motorsports prepares cars and provides trackside stewardship for drivers who rent one of their cars (Up to four) in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series. The team offers an unparalleled driver development program that includes training with simulators, as well as teaching driving techniques and race strategies. It is always difficult for a young driver to get into a professional series and make his mark, let alone win, no matter how talented he or she may be. With the coaching and mentoring provided by Cape Motorsports, new drivers acquire all the knowledge required to achieve maximum success quickly and efficiently.

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