THOMAS NEPVEU IN THE STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG WITH THE COOPER TIRES USF2000 SERIES
April 23 and 24, 2021 - Races 3 & 4 – Urban layout in St. Petersburg (Florida)
Oka (Quebec, Canada) – 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)