Thomas Nepveu in the streets of St.Petersburg with the Cooper Tire USF2000 Series

April 23 and 24, 2021 - Races 3 & 4 - Urban layout in St. Petersburg (Florida)

After two very promising races in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series in Alabama this past weekend, Thomas Nepveu and his Cape Motorsports team are now moving on to the 1.8-mile, 14-turn urban layout in St. Petersburg on the west coast of Florida. Nepveu's solid performance in his races aboard his #2 Cromwell | Karting excellence | Home Hardware car confirmed his racing maturity and his ability to learn quickly in a situation that was new to him: a single seater that was more massive than a go-kart, sophisticated tire management over the three days at the track, fierce competition from drivers that he did not know, and unfamiliar racing ethics and officials.

Thomas Nepveu understands the special nature of the St. Petersburg layout: "I have driven this track on the Cape Motorsports advanced simulator, and I am working with the Race Sheets prepared by the team that cover the track in detail such as the surfaces, holes and bumps, and anomalies in the positioning of walls. I also have access to videos taken on the track and will walk the track on Thursday to prepare for the Friday morning practice. This 30-minute session is very important as we can work on the set-up in preparation for the two qualifying runs in the afternoon. The walls all around the track are a game-changer. The slightest mistake is usually very costly if we hit a wall or lose time down an escape road. The track is wide, which makes it a bit easier to drive. I'll be ready," explains the brand-new Breakfast Club of Canada ambassador.

Streets of St. Petersburg

The bumpy urban layout, surrounded by walls and with a few run-off areas includes two straights and a left-hand flat-out kink, as well as several strings of two or three successive changes of direction mixed in with a few simple 90-degree corners. As in every city, the streets use a higher crown along the center to help the evacuation of rainwater, and act as magnets to attract the unwary into the walls on corner exits.

Despite these imperfections, the skill and courage of the Cooper Tires USF2000 series drivers allow them to post a 145 km/h average speed lap record. Fortunately, the width of the track helps to forgive slight deviations from the trajectory in the corners but beware of braking or exiting the corner where mistakes are costly.

Weekend Format (EDT)

• Friday April 23: Practice (P1) from 8:55 to 9:25 AM| Qualifying 1 (Q1) from 12:15 to 12:35 PM | Qualifying 2 (Q2) from 3:30 to 3:50 PM
• Saturday April 24: Race 1 (R1) from10:55 to 11:35 AM (20 laps) | Race 2 (R2) from 5:20 to 6:00 PM (20 laps)

Live Timing: Road to Indy TV application | Website Cooper Tires USF2000

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

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.

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