DNF and a Podium at NOLA for Thomas Nepveu

Rounds 1 et 2 of the SKUSA Winternationals - from March 26 to 28, 2021
NOLA Motorsport Park (Louisiana)

Thomas Nepveu went through an intense week after a superb, attacking finish last Sunday in the ROK Cup USA series. After two days of testing in the USF2000 series at Barber Motorsport Park near Talladega, Alabama, on Monday and Tuesday, Thomas Nepveu then headed south for the first two rounds of the SKUSA Winternationals series (Superkart! USA - X30 Senior class), run at NOLA Motorsports Park (New Orleans, LA). After being forced to retire in the Saturday Final, Thomas Nepveu and the team finished on the third step of the podium in the Sunday Final.

Thomas Nepveu and his PSL Karting team were back on a karting track they know well, with its 17 corners spread over 0.95 miles. The layout combines a long straight with a series of slower corners that force the team to make a pivotal decision on the final drivetrain's fixed ratio: too short and you lose time on the long straight, or too long and you lose acceleration coming out of the tight corners.

Summary of the Week-end Action From Thomas Nepveu (extracts)

Round 1 - Saturday, March 27

After five short test sessions on Friday, Thomas Nepveu and the team regained the efficiency of the former's driving, without however having recovered the slight lack of speed of the machine which is costly in terms of results.  Thomas Nepveu is still some 0.3 seconds behind the quickest drivers, which complicates his work over the weekend. 

Starting 22nd for the 10-lap Pre-Final, Thomas Nepveu lost 9 seconds in a fifth lap incident, and fought his way back from 31th place, 11 seconds behind the leader after the incident. He came back up to 18th place at the finish, still 11 seconds behind the winner. This means that Thomas Nepveu drove the last 5 laps of the race at the same pace as the leader and eventual winner - quite a feat in the heavy mid-pack traffic. After the race, the officials discovered that the bumper was bent from the fifth lap incident and added 3 seconds to Thomas Nepveu's total time for the race, which dropped him to 19th position in the official results.

"In the Pre-Final I had an incident after a good start and having gained two positions in the first four laps. I hit a kart while trying to overtake it when the driver decided to shut the door later. After the race, the officials added 3 seconds to my total race time due to a penalty. However, I drove well and got the most out of the kart until the end of the race," explained a motivated Thomas Nepveu ready for the Final.

"In the Final, I got a good start from 17th place and passed people until I was 15th on the fifth lap. I was then involved in an incident where the responsibility was shared 50-50. I ended up against a protective wall and was forced to retire with a damaged kart," concluded a driver disappointed with the turnout of round 1 of the weekend.

Ronde 2 - Sunday, March 28

The preparation for Sunday really began on Saturday evening when the team had to rebuild the damaged kart with a new chassis and rear axle, and then reset it to its pre-incident settings. Sunday started out with a broken throttle cable which prevented Thomas Nepveu from taking part in the morning warm-up.

Thomas Nepveu then had to qualify without having driven the completely rebuilt kart and qualified 3rd, ready for the Pre-Final. Starting from the second row in the 10-lap Pre-Final, he finished 5th after a faultless performance on his first outing of the weekend on a wet track. This result confirms the renewed health of the #324 kart. 

Third on the grid for the 20-lap feature, Thomas Nepveu successfully defended his position, before the rain interrupted the activities. When the race was restarted, he fought for the first place before falling back to fourth at the end of the race and coming back to third at the flag. It was a great race to cap off a weekend where the driver and his machine made it back to the front of the pack.

"We changed the whole 'tube' (chassis) on Saturday night in addition to the rear axle. We made a few set-up changes, but came back to our base settings. I took the pole at the beginning of qualifying and had a good kart for the Pre-Final.

In the Final, the weather was questionable and the officials decided to run the race as normal (Dry) race, and we all took the start on slicks. After a few laps, we were a group of three at the front when it started to rain harder and we came to a fast corner with a painted run-off area. I crashed into the wall and hurt the kart again. The race was stopped as everyone was crashing. The officials decided to do a full restart as per qualifying, so I started third after 45 minutes of repairs, still in the rain and on rain tires, but without being able to change the settings for the rain, like the final drive. I'm more than satisfied with this very good day," concluded the driver, who is very happy with his return to competitiveness.  

Next Races:

USF2000:

• Races 1 & 2 - from April 15 to18 at Barber Motorsport Park
• Races 3 & 4 - from April 23 to 25 - at Petersburg (street course)

Karting:

• SKUSA Spring Nationals - X30 Senior class - from May 22 to 23 - at the Utah Motorsports Campus

Karting Championships

Participating in three championships over the summer adds up to 23 professional events over the season (13 in karts and 10 in USF2000 cars). Each weekend is composed of multiple practice/qualifying sessions, Pre-final and Final races depending on each series' rules. The considerable amount of racing time, plus the hours spent on simulators, will certainly accelerate Thomas Nepveu's learning process given the high level of competition in every series.

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).

2021 Thomas Nepveu Karting Schedule

Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship

Thomas Nepveu's plans for the 2021 season call for him to participate for the first time in the eight (8) weekends of the USF2000 series (for a total of 18 races), the first of the four steps on the Road to Indy Program on the way to a career in IndyCar, the fastest and most prestigious single-seater series in North America.

The USF2000 professional-level series uses technically advanced cars that are all identical, and feature a reinforced carbon fibre central tub, adjustable front and rear spoilers, a sealed 175 hp engine and a six-speed gearbox with paddle shifters on the steering wheel, driver-adjustable front-rear braking distribution, and adjustable suspensions. The complexity of the car's settings and the analysis of driving and track performance data allow young drivers to learn how to refine their driving skills and gain a deeper understanding of the technical aspects of such sophisticated machines.

Photo Credit: On Track Promotion

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

About PSL Karting

PSL Karting is a company based in Trois-Rivières (Quebec), which specializes in the preparation and support of drivers in kart races, in addition to acting as a North American distributor and managing the official Birel ART racing team in America via a nationally ranked racing team whose objective is to develop young drivers and promote Birel ART products. Founded in 1999, PSL is recognized in the North American karting market with its advanced distribution system for selling chassis, accessories, components and equipment for kart and single-seater drivers.

Over the years, the team has grown from a simple store to a large warehouse/workshop with a full-time professional team. In addition to its distribution activity, the PSL racing team has won numerous national and regional karting championships over the last 10 years and offers preparation and track support services that have helped produce some of the best drivers in the world. In 2015, PSL partnered with Birel ART and All Road Management, a group responsible for the success of Formula 1 drivers such as Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo, Pastor Maladonado and the late Jules Bianchi.

In the medium term, PSL is focused on growing Birel ART and the new Ricciardo Kart line in North America, creating a strong brand presence in all its markets and offering tailored services to customers at all levels of karting and motorsports.