Thomas Nepveu works hard for mixed results in USPKS Final: The Carolina GP at GoPro. Top-5 and Top-10 place finish

Thomas Nepveu and his team took part in the final event of the United States Pro Kart Series (USPKS) two-day event, the "Carolina GP@ GoPro" races held at the GoPro Motorplex (X30 Pro Senior class). Thomas Nepveu and his team changed kart brand and support team over the season (Trinity Karting Group). The young driver has accumulated enormous experience, especially by driving a race car, and gained a much greater understanding of the demands placed on a professional driver. 

Saturday - Race 1

"We tested a lot of different settings on the Friday open practice, developing a set-up that gave us 6^th quickest at the end of the day, ready for a strong performance on Saturday. We had a slight engine problem in qualifying and ended up 15^th for the start of the Pre-Final. The front runners got into a tight jam at the start of the Pre-final, so much that I could not weave my way past them in a short 14-lap race and ended up in 14^th place. My start in the final from 11^th place after my Pre-Final result was corrected, and I spent 12 laps in 8^th place unable to get by anyone as we were all running the same times. Two cars fell out at the end and I was happy to take their spots and end up 5^th in the final. We will change some settings for tomorrow based on what we learned today and hope for a great qualifying session tomorrow. Overall, today was a good return to karts for me," mentioned Thomas Nepveu after the race.

Sunday - Race 2

"After qualifying in 5^th place, I got a good start in the Pre-final place and ran up to 4^th before a slight racing incident dropped me to 10^th and then 11^th where I finished. I started the 25-lap Final from 11^th place after making some setting adjustments, I got up to 7^th and 8^th before losing more positions down to 10^th at the finish.

"Our last changes did not work out as well as we expected, but we did learn a lot about our new kart and I feel that we are better prepared for the important races at Las Vegas in early November. I am satisfied with what we accomplished this weekend," declared the hard-working driver. 

Next Race
Thomas Nepveu and his team will move on to the ROK Vegas event held on November 3 to 7 at "On the Strip / Planet Hollywood / Paris / Bally's" in Las Vega (Nevada).

Driving Instructor
Thomas Nepveu's personality and technical knowledge also make him an ideal driving instructor, capable of transmitting his knowledge while making the student and the family comfortable during these important and often emotionally charged moments. Thomas Nepveu began working with novices in the spring of 2019, when he was only 14 years old, and continues to do so for the BCR (Ben Cooper Racing) race team. Last winter, with he even helped some PSL Karting drivers at a track in addition to taking care of his own machine (track walks, debrief meetings after each track session).

Kart Republic
Founded in 2017 by Dino Chiesa, this Italian manufacturer has dominated kart racing at the international level since its inception. It quickly moved to American competition, taking its first win at the most competitive North American event, the Las Vegas SKUSA SuperNationals (1^st - X30 Senior class - Nov. 2018). The brand has recorded a multitude of wins since then and solidified its position at the top of the kart racing world. 

2021 Thomas Nepveu Karting Schedule

Photo Credit:  Studio52.us

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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