Intense race weekend for Thomas Nepveu

 Thomas Nepveu was back this past weekend on the 0.7 mile, 11-turn kart track at the AMR Homestead-Miami Motorplex for the third and fourth rounds of the now legendary SKUSA Winter Series (Superkart! USA – X30 Senior class). Over Friday’s practice and Saturday’s races, Thomas Nepveu and his PSL Karting crew worked hard to recover the 0.2 sec. lap time deficit against the quickest machines. During the Saturday Final race, the young driver from Oka demonstrated his talent by moving up from 31^st to 15^th place at the finish. The innocent victim of two incidents in the Sunday Final crossed the finish line in 7^th position.

As the lead driver at PSL Karting, Thomas Nepveu benefits from the full support of this leading team and its technical director Coy Arbour when racing his Birel ART machine in the X30 Senior category, the most competitive one in the SKUSA series. Races in this class are always close, with 35 riders registered for this weekend’s competition.

The Weekend Action According to Thomas Nepveu

Friday (February 12): “We needed more speed right from the start of practice on Friday morning. That meant that we had to go through the kart to ensure that every component was working as it should, that the settings were correct, and also had to replace any parts that were not up to spec, After an improvement of two tenths of a second compared to the quickest kart in the last session today, we still have to fine-tune the settings tomorrow (Saturday) in order to be well positioned for a podium finish in the finals tomorrow and Sunday,” concluded a driver satisfied with his team’s day’s work.

Racing is a complex sport that depends on the perfect efficiency of the equipment and the participants. When things do not go as planned, such as today and during the first rounds of the series last January, the team has to refocus and recheck everything without ever giving up. This is what the team and Thomas Nepveu have done so far this weekend.

Saturday (February 13): “After a decent result in the warm-up session, I got stuck in traffic during qualifying and recorded a time 0.2 seconds slower than the pole sitter. In the Pre-Final race, I moved up from 11th at the start to 6th place, despite the fact that the kart was still somewhat slower than the leaders. Starting from 12th place on the grid for the 22-lap Final, I was pushed into an incident that occurred right in front of me on the first lap, The blow bent my bumper and affected the handling to a certain degree. I found myself in 31st position on lap 2 and pushed as hard as I could for the rest of the race. In fact, I clawed my way back to a 16^th-place finish. The machine was not yet perfect, and we are still working on it to make the most of tomorrow’s qualifying session and races,” explained Thomas Nepveu, a motivated driver for the second day of racing on Sunday.

Moving up from 31^st to 15^th position in a short race on a less-than-perfect machine illustrates certainly Thomas Nepveu’s driving talent, but it also shows his determination and an ability to adapt his driving to the behaviour of the kart in order to still get the most out of it.

Sunday (February 14): “Qualifying was not perfect, but it was better than yesterday. I improved a little bit on the last lap and ended up 10^th, as we are still two tenths of a second short. In the Pre-Final I moved up from 10th on the grid to 6th on the first lap. Another incident occurred in front of me and forced me to drive on the dirty and slippery side of the track, which dropped me back to 9th place for the end of the pre-final. I had a good start from 9th on the grid for the 22-lap Final, moving up to 5th place on the first lap. I did not last, as another incident in front of me dropped to an honest 7th place finish for the last race of the weekend,“ according to the driver who was somewhat dissatisfied with the result despite some excellent driving on his part.

Next Race: Round 2 of the ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour – Kart #353 – Senior ROK class (February 18 to 21 – ROK)

“The ROK Cup USA series has changed venues fir this second round of the series, to abide more effectively to the local health directives. Accordingly, the event will take place at the Ocala Gran Prix track dedicated to Karting. The six very different corners make it more challenging than an urban track which is often bumpy and painful for the drivers’ neck and back. I already know this track and I believe that everything will be fine,” added a Thomas Nepveu who is aiming at nothing less than podium results.

Thomas Nepveu will drive in the Senior ROK class rather than Shifter ROK for the PSL Karting team, replacing Ben Cooper who is not unavailable due to new health restrictions imposed by the authorities.

ROK Cup USA Florida Winter Tour – classe Senior ROK (February18 to 21 – ROK)

• February 19: Practice  9:50 am – 11:30 am | Qualifying 2:22 pm – 4h18 pm
• February 20: Warm-up  9:35 am |Qualifying 11:14 am – 2:14 pm | Pre-Final 4:38 pm
• February21: Warm-up 8:40 am| Final 10:46 am
• Live timing: ROK Cup USA app

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.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week.  Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.

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