Thomas Nepveu was back on track for the first time this year. He partnered up with Kart Republic, BN Engine and KartSport North America to compete in the X30 Senior class at the AMR Homestead-Miami kart track, which hosted the first round of the SKUSA Winter Series.
It was an adjustment for the Oka native, who doesn’t get as much track time as others in this class. However, the weekend went very well as the Kart Republic team prepared a great machine.
“We were very fast in Saturday’s warm-up session,” said Thomas. “We thought that would translate into a good result in the qualifying session, but I couldn’t get a good lap because of traffic. So I qualified at the back of the pack.”
However, Thomas made grounds in the Pre-Final and moved ten spots, “I went from 27th to 17th, so I’m happy with the progress, but it wasn’t as much as I’d hoped.”
He finished Saturday’s final in 10th place, but a penalty dropped him to 15th. “I lacked speed in the Final, but the kart was almost perfect. It was hard to make my way up as the field was impressive. Everyone was fast and competitive.”
Sunday started the same way, with a very satisfying warm-up, but it wasn’t taken into account due to a transponder issue. “The qualifying session wasn’t bad, but not great either. I don’t think I could show my true speed, so I set the 19th time.”
He states, “Pre-Final was a total disaster; I was very fast, moving up the field, but we were battling and swapping positions. I didn’t have any good opportunities and went in the grass. I finished in 16th place.”
However, the weekend ended on a positive note as Thomas moved up from 16th to 4th place, missing the podium by a tenth of a second. “I am thrilled; we had a perfect race. We made some changes to the kart, and it was perfect.”
“I am very grateful for the help from Kart Republic. We will be back on track at the next round next February,” concluded Thomas.
Thomas Nepveu PR
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