Thomas Nepveu builds racecraft over competitive three-race weekend. Close Racing Over Tight Mid-Ohio Course in USF2000 Series

Thomas Nepveu and his #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car prepared by Cape Motorsports were back at another classic American road course, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, this weekend. The young driver fought hard on every lap, improving his lap times during every race and finishing 13^th, 5^th, and 9^th on a track where it is difficult to pass.

This was Thomas Nepveu's first visit to Mid-Ohio, so that the three test sessions were all important to help Thomas Nepveu learn the proper racing lines at this technical layout that requires absolute precision to run through the string of seven consecutive corners. Friday afternoon, Thomas Nepveu turned in the 11^th quickest time in the single qualifying session, 0.7099 sec. slower than the leader in the tight lead pack of 17 drivers in the same second as the pole sitter.

Thomas Nepveu's Point of View

Race 1 - 13^th Place Finish
After starting 11^th, a caution flag came out on lap 1 of this 20-lap race due to an incident just in front of Thomas Nepveu. The race was relaunched on lap 4, starting a mad dash in tight traffic that lasted right to the end of the race for Thomas Nepveu. After the early caution period, Thomas Nepveu upped his pace, turning in successive fastest laps up to his 11^th lap. He was then forced to spend the rest of the race stuck less than 1 sec behind the car in front of him and unable to mount a successful attack on the twisty layout. 

Cape Motorsports team leader Dominic Cape was happy with Thomas Nepveu's performance after testing, qualifying and the first race: "Mid-Ohio is one of the most technical circuits on our calendar. Thomas worked hard coming to grips with the circuit and its nuances. It all started to come together during qualifying. Thomas had a good first race and we are all looking to tomorrow's race and the opportunities Thomas will have."

"Things went OK yesterday (Thursday) and in Race 1 today (Friday), but I would have liked to finish better than 13^th. This is a tough track to pass on. I was quick after the early caution period and ran my quickest lap of the race on lap 7. After that, I was unable to get enough grip to pass people, as the aerowash (disturbed air off the wings of the car in front of me) reduces airflow over my wings and thus my downforce. This effect makes passing extremely difficult at this track. For Race 2, I will work on pushing my #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car and myself ever closer to the absolute limit", said Thomas Nepveu after Race 1.

Race 2 - 5^th Place Finish
"Starting 5^th on Race 2 based on my second quickest lap in qualifying gave me a shot at the podium, but I was unable to close in on the cars in front of me as I was dealing with the same lack of downforce as in Race 1 yesterday. I spent the whole race in 5^th position and concentrated on making consistent error-free laps and staying just ahead of the guys behind me, my lead grew to over 1 second and protected me from a multi-car Banzai charge behind me in the closing laps. 

Two drivers stopped late in the race for a set of new tires and turned in some laps that were quicker than my best one in the race, that dropped me from 5^th to 7^th on the grid for Race 3 on Sunday morning. I want those two positions back and a few more please in the race so more thinking tonight and some more tweaks for the race. The #2 Cromwell | Karting Excellence | Home Hardware car is great! It's all up to me!" from Thomas Nepveu the only Canadian driver in this series.

Race 3 - 9^th Place Finish
Thomas Nepveu took the start of the last race of the weekend in 7^th position and spent most of the race in 7^th place before dropping to 9^th on lap 11 and finishing the race in that position after fighting tooth-and-nail to stay ahead of those who were behind him, usually by less than a second.

"I had a little trouble warming up my tires for the start on the cold track and that cost me some time on the early laps. The car was great again today, and my teammate Michael D'Orlando won the race. I am now looking forward to the next race after the summer break, where I know we will be competitive," said the second-place rookie driver, now one point behind the leading rookie.

Cape Motorsports team leader Dominic Cape is also glad to see the improvement in Thomas Nepveu's racing over the weekend. "Another solid weekend in the learning process for Thomas. He improved in every session although the last race did not go quite our way with all the yellows and some crazy incidents. It was still a very good weekend for Thomas."

Next Events

USF2000 - August 27 to 29 - New Jersey Motorsports Park (Millville, NJ)
The team will be back in action after a summer break, at the 2.14 mile, 13-turns New Jersey Motorsports Park, near Millville (New Jersey). The layout of the New Jersey track is close to that of Mid-Ohio, with two 5-turn sections separated by a short back-straight and a longer front one. Both This track and Mid-Ohio both require the same type of precise driving and concentration to ensure that the car is always in the correct position on the track to enter and exit the next corner properly. Thomas Nepveu's strong showing at Mid-Ohio was an ideal preparation for this new track for him.

Karting - August 13 to 15 - New Castle Motorsports Park (Indiana)
In the meantime, Thomas Nepveu and PSL Karting will head to the New Castle Motorsport Park to compete in the SuperKarts! USA (Summer Nationals).

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