Thomas nepveu moves up to the cooper tires USF2000 championship with Cape motorsports
The Road to Indy Program
Oka (Quebec, Canada) - 17 December 2020. Sixteen-year-old Thomas Nepveu announces today that he is moving up to the Cooper Tire USF2000 Championship single-seater series on the Road To Indy Presented by Cooper after a brilliant nine-year (9) career in karting with PSL Karting and Birel ART. Along the way, the young driver has competed in more than 300 races, accumulating countless victories, eight (8) championships and twenty-two (22) top-10 finishes in high-level international events and in various championships (Canada, United States, Italy, Sweden, Brazil, Finland). Thomas Nepveu will drive the #2 car for Cape Motorsports, the leading team in the series, having built up a remarkable record of nine straight championships in this category (for a total of 13 championships in all). Thomas Nepveu will compete in all eighteen (18) races in the 2021 season, two of which will be presented at the iconic Honda Toronto Indy on July 9-11, 2021.
"I am thrilled to be moving up to single seaters for the 2021 season, and especially with Cape Motorsports, one of the best team in the USF2000 series. Preseason testing with them has convinced me that their knowledge and winning experience will put me in the best possible position to quickly develop my racecraft and driving skills. I have a great professional team working to assist with my development, and I also want to thank my parents, Coy Arbour and all those who have helped me reach this point in my career," declared the young driver.
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.
"We are extremely delighted to welcome Thomas into our program for 2021. Thomas' skills come with a dedicated approach to the hard work needed, which is clearly what we are looking for at this level. We can't wait to start preparing for the season ahead!", shared Dominic and Nicholas Cape from Cape Motorsports.
Thomas Nepveu and the strategic team
Thomas Nepveu and his strategic team and have developed a two-pronged career plan that focuses on IndyCar (North America's foremost single-seater series), coupled with participation in international Kart championships with PSL Karting and Birel ART when time permits. The learning experience and the communications generated by these activities will always be optimized and promoted through the Road To Indy program as well as additional promotional and communications activities throughout the season.
Accompanied by Coy Arbour, his long-time technical manager and driving coach, Thomas Nepveu drove a single seater for the first time ever at the Querétaro, Mexico round of the NACAM Formula 4 series 2020 season. He won one race and reached two podiums in three races over that weekend while putting in some dominant drives. During post-season testing in USF2000, Thomas was able to learn the car quickly enough to put in lap times within a half-second of USF2000 veteran drivers.
Thomas Nepveu understands how important his education is to help build his professional career. He is successfully pursuing his studies using distance learning.
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 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires 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 first of the 18 races in the 2021 USF2000 season will take place on March 5 to 7, on the streets of St. Petersburg (Florida), on the same weekend as the opening race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
High resolution pictures: https://urlz.fr/evQx
Photo credit - portrait of Thomas Nepveu: Cody Schnidel
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jessica Ménard, Les Equipes Caissie-Menard inc.
Business consultant - Thomas Nepveu Motorsport
Mobile: 819.448.6514 - E-mail: jmenard@caissiemenard.com
Additional Information
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 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 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 TO DATE
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 Karting, first in the Montreal area, then on to provincial and national series, and to the United States and other continents.
2020 UNITED STATES - 1st ROK Fest East, 6th of 52 drivers, 1 pole in three ROK USA Florida, Winter Tour races (FWT), 6th and one podium from 59 drivers in SKUSA Winter Tour, 8th from 49 SKUSA Pro Tour
2020 INTERNATIONAL - First race in FIA NACAM Formula 4: 1 victory and 2 podiums from 3 races (Querétaro and Monterrey, Mexico)
2019 CANADA - Transition year to the Senior Class, Canadian Karting, Champion Shifter Open
2019 UNITED STATES - 2 Top-5 in SKUSA Pro Tour
2019 INTERNATIONAL - Top-15 in Final Round WSK Euro Series (Italy), Raced in CIK-FIA (OK) championship, Raced in CIK-FIA World Championship (OK Finland)
2018 UNITED STATES - 1st in US Open et 3rd in FWT, 5th at ROK the Rio
2018 INTERNATIONAL - 4th in Rotax Max Grand Finals (Brazil), 15th in CIK-FIA World Championship (OK-J, Sweden),Raced in CIK-FIA World Championship events
2017 CANADA - 2nd in ECKC Championship
2017 UNITED STATES - 1st in second round of FWT
2016 CANADA - Eastern Canada Champion with a record seven victories in seven races
2016 UNITED STATES - 1st in Mini Swift Super Nationals
2016 INTERNATIONAL - 2nd in Mini-Max Mondial, Member of World Champion Team Canada
2015 CANADA - 2nd in Coupe Quebec and 4th in Eastern Canada series, 3rd in Canadian Championship
2014 CANADA - 1st in Coupe Quebec, Eastern|Western Canada, 3rd in Canadian Championship
2014 UNITED STATES - 3rd in FWT
2013 CANADA - 1st in 9-year-old class in Quebec, Western|Eastern Canada
2013 INTERNATIONAL - 6th in Micro-Max World Championship
2012 CANADA - Beginnings in Micro-Max, 5th in Coupe du Quebec