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Posted by admin on May 15 ^th 2022 in Miscellaneous News

Unrewarded Efforts For Thomas Nepveu at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

PRESS RELEASE:

Indianapolis (Indiana, USA), May 15, 2022 – Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, May 14, 2022 – It was a tough weekend for Thomas Nepveu, a young driver competing in the USF2000 series with DEForce Racing. Nepveu had a triple header at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The event kicked off the Month of May activities surrounding the Indy 500 later this month.

The first race set the tone for the rest of the weekend, as it was a very chaotic race, in the words of Thomas Nepveu. “I had a good start, but when I went into the first corner, a competitor went on the inside line and passed me like a bowling ball and used me to stop,” he explained. “I went into the grass, which dropped me to eighth or ninth. Thanks to the restart, I was able to work my way up through the field to fourth. We had a perfect pace and an excellent car that should have finished in the Top 3, but I had a contact which damaged my front wing. So that hurt the car’s aerodynamics, and I finished in 5th place.”

The driver of the #10 Cromwell | Pétrole Bélanger | Home Hardware | Karting Excellence car was hoping for a better race on Sunday morning, but as dawn broke over Indianapolis, it was adversity that awaited Thomas instead. “I had a good start in race two,” he said. “I fell back to fourth and was trying to pass for third. Jace Denmark and I had a pretty intense battle before the caution. But at the restart, I had a contact in turn one and went into the grass. By the time I managed to get back on track, I had lost too much time to get back into the top 10. The important thing is to have scored a point, but the result is not what we wanted.”

The final race of the weekend went better, as Thomas moved into the Top 4, with a podium finish in his sights. “The start was pretty calm, which was a good change from the other two events! The top 4 had a slight gap on me, but I could defend my position while trying to catch them. Lap after lap, I was getting a little closer to them, but I was two laps short of fighting for 4th place. However, I’m happy with the points I got!

“This is not the result we wanted after the successful qualifying session,” said Coy Arbour, Thomas’ coach. “Indianapolis always has some ‘crazy’ races, so we’re happy to have collected the points from the two Top 5’s. Now we look ahead to the only oval race of the season.”

Thomas Nepeuve and DEForce Racing will return to Indianapolis May 26-27, but this time on the prestigious Lucas Oil Raceway oval, which is the host of the Indianapolis 500.

Posted by admin on Apr 28 ^th 2022 in Miscellaneous News

Thomas Nepveu Is Back On Tack At Barber Motorsports Park This Weekend.

Oka (Québec, Canada), April 28, 2022 – It’s a long-awaited return for Thomas Nepveu at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama. It has been a two-month hiatus since the USF2000 season-opener last February in the streets of St. Petersburg. Nepveu will finally be on track this weekend, April 29 to May 1, in his #10 Cromwell | Pétrole Bélanger | Home Hardware | Karting Excellence DEForce Racing machine.

After a successful first event, in which Thomas claimed pole position for the first race and then led 19 laps before being taken out by a competitor trying a daring pass, he is looking forward to this weekend.

“My goal is not only to win but also to finish both races,” explained the young Oka native. “I can’t afford any more accidents like what happened in St. Petersburg.” It’s a two-way strategy for Thomas; on the one hand, he wants to grab the win, but on the other hand, he wants to be crowned Champion.

“The goal of the season is to win the championship, so I’ll have to settle for third or second place if it’s too risky to fight at the front.”

Barber Motorsports Park is a 3.8-kilometre track that he is very familiar with, having competed in last season’s events at the Alabama venue and having tested there this year. “It’s a beautiful track with a lot of elevation changes. The surface is nice; there are no bumps. However, it is a challenge to overtake; the qualifying session will be very important.”

“I”m looking forward to getting back into the USF2000 program at Barber Motorsports Park,” added Coy Arbour, Thomas’ coach. “Barber is a difficult track, but Thomas is getting comfortable there and he has proven his pace. Look for the DEForce #10 car near the front! “

About Barber Motorsports Park

Barber Motorsports Park is a challenging track with an incredible view. Not far from Birmingham, Alabama, it is a popular destination for fans and USF2000 and IndyCar teams. The 2.3-mile road course features 17 turns and 80 feet of elevation changes in a single lap. The lap record is held by Pato O’Ward, who posted a time of 1:06.81 in 2021.

Events and times are available live here: https://www.usf2000.com/results/live-timing

Weekend Schedule

April 29

Practice – 12pm *

Qualifying 1 – 4:15 pm

April 30

Qualifying 2 – 10:15 am

Race 1 – 3:20 pm

May 1

Race 2 – 9 am

* Central daylight-saving time

Posted by admin on Mar 2 ^nd 2022 in Miscellaneous News

Foster Delivers Double-Podium Performance In INDY PRO 2000 Debut

For Immediate Release: March 2, 2022

Exclusive Autosport leaves the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg sitting second in championship

ST.PETERSBURG, FL (February 26, 2022) – Exclusive Autosport returned to the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course of St. Petersburg, Florida for the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires season opener this past weekend. The team debuted three new Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires drivers to their line-up, including American Christian Brooks, and a pair of Englishmen in Louis Foster and Matthew Round-Garrido. The drivers came into this event feeling confident, having worked hard together and with their engineers during their extensive off-season testing. EA has been known for having great cars at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and they have numerous podiums on their resume, including three wins last year in USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000, creating a powerful atmosphere among the drivers and the crew members.

“I am very happy with our podium finishes in Indy Pro 2000 this past weekend,” said Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal. “Louis Foster, in the #90 Copart.com Exclusive Autosport car, had a strong debut weekend in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship with his 2^nd and 3^rd placed finishes and is second in the overall championship (only 2 points back). He is in a good position, early in the championship as we head into Barber. Matthew Round Garrido in the #92 Corpay Indy Pro 2000 had an up and down weekend. We worked through some issues that inhibited performance in race 1 and he came back strong in race 2. Christian Brooks, unfortunately, had a terminal incident in qualifying. Christian, although a rookie to the Indy Pro 2000 Championship, has had success on the Streets of St. Petersburg and had a really strong practice session. His incident reiterated how unforgiving this street circuit can be. We have a long break before we are racing again, and we are collectively working hard to get Christian back in the car for Barber.”

The weekend event got underway on Thursday afternoon with the lone practice session of the weekend. Friday morning kicked off bright and early for the only qualifying session to set the grid for Race 1. The drivers were all pushing hard but, unfortunately, Christian Brooks made a slight mistake late in the session, sending his car into the wall on the outside of Turn 3. The damage was so significant that it was unrepairable, forcing Brooks to the sidelines for the weekend. Foster finished the session in fifth, while Round-Garrido timed in ninth after battling some issues with his car.

The opening round of the doubleheader took place later that afternoon. Foster got a monster of a start, quickly advancing him into the 2^nd position. Louis slipped back to the third position by the end of the opening lap but continued to push, eventually claiming the first podium of his Road to Indy career. Matthew continued to fight and ended up finishing in tenth.

Race 2 was run early on Saturday morning, and Foster was quickly into the battle, starting from fifth. He was aggressive at the start but could advance, although he was into fourth on lap 2 and began to hunt down the driver in third. After an early full-course caution, Louis went into attack mode and grabbed third with a strong move around the outside in Turn 4. On lap nine, he made the move to second and set his sights on the leader. After a lengthy late-race caution, it was a four-lap dash to the end. Foster made his bid for the win with three laps to go, but he couldn’t complete the overtake. Settling in for the final laps, Foster scored his second podium of the weekend with a runner-up finish, giving him the points to sit second in the championship leaving the weekend. Round-Garrido had a huge task ahead of him, as his issues in Race 1 positioned him deeper on the grid for the start. The crew was able to sort out his issues, but it was a bit too late. MRG fought hard all race and gained several positions to score his second top-10.

The team will now head back to the shop and prep the cars for the series test at Barber Motorsports Park on March 21-22, before returning for Rounds 3 and 4 at the end of April.

Exclusive Autosport is pleased to be able to partner with a great company – Corpay Cross-Border Solutions (https://cross-border.corpay.com/exclusive-autosport/) – who specialize in helping companies of all sizes power their international payments, execute plans to manage their currency risk and support their growth around the world

Posted by admin on Mar 2 ^nd 2022 in Miscellaneous News

Exclusive Autosport’s Billy Frazer Scores First Road To INDY Podium

For Immediate Release: March 2, 2022

Australian runner-up at USF2000 season opener to set second in championship

ST.PETERSBURG, FL (February 27, 2022) – Exclusive Autosport returned to the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course of St. Petersburg, Florida for the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires season opener this past weekend and scored multiple podiums across their Indy Pro 2000 and USF2000 programs. The team welcomed back New Zealand’s Billy Frazer for his second year in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship series, while adding another Kiwi to the squad in 16-year-old Jacob Douglas. Coming into the weekend knowing that EA has the data from winning the last three USF2000 races on the Streets of St. Petersburg, the entire team was extremely confident unloading off the trailer Wednesday afternoon. When the dust had settled, Frazer left with his first career series podium and a pair of top-five finishes to sit second in the championship standings. Douglas logged crucial track time and experience, although his weekend was cut short in the second race of the doubleheader when he was caught in an incident due to a blocked track.

“I am thrilled that Billy, in the #92 Corpay Exclusive Autosport car, was able to collect his first podium finish in the USF2000,” said Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal. “He showed his veteran skills as he navigated the carnage in Race 1 to end up on the podium and exit the weekend second in the overall championship. Jacob Douglas had an unfortunate incident in race 2 as he was innocently collected in a large wreck. It was really disappointing to see his day cut short, but he gained valuable track time and knowledge. I’m really looking forward to returning to racing at Barber at the end of April.”

Track activities got underway on Thursday afternoon with the drivers’ only practice session of the weekend. Unfortunately, two laps into the practice, Jacob made a slight error that caused damage that could not be fixed in time to get any true laps on the track. Billy had an engine, so his track time was cut short during practice. Friday morning brought on the only qualifying session of the weekend. The EA drivers both knew they had a big task ahead due to the lack of track time and both pushed hard. In the end, Frazer set a lap that put him sixth on the grid in Race 1, while Douglas found speed and was 13^th on the timesheet.

Late in the afternoon on Friday, the opening race of the USF2000 doubleheader took place under the hot sun. Frazer got a strong start, lunging himself from sixth to third on the opening lap. At the halfway point, he fell one position to fourth and while still pushing to advance, he was cognizant of the heated action ahead of him and kept his eyes open. On the final lap, the drivers in first and second came together in huge fashion, just as Billy had predicted, giving him the opportunity to capitalize on this event. After avoiding the wrecked cars and emerging from the chaos, he came across the start-finish line in second to score the first podium of his Road to Indy career. Douglas used this race to gain his first wheel-to-wheel experience in the USF2000 Tatuus USF-22, learning how to race with his new competitors. Jacob drove hard to keep his 13^th position while avoiding some of the on-track action in front of him.

The EA drivers had Saturday off to support their Indy Pro 2000 teammates, but they were back on-track on Sunday just prior to the NTT INDYCAR race. Neither driver had ideal starting spots, so they both knew they had to fight hard and move forward. The start was called off three times due to a car being stuck on the track. When it finally went green, the drivers only made one lap before their first full-course caution. Billy and Jacob had positioned themselves in the 10^th and 12^th positions for the restart. The race went back to green, but at the halfway mark a huge crash occurred in front of both drivers and although Billy was able to find a way through unscathed, Jacob had nowhere to go and hit one of the stalled cars. His race would end there. The accident moved Billy up to the sixth position, where he finished the race. Frazer leaves St. Petersburg second in the championship standings.

The team will now head back to the shop and prep the cars for the series test at Barber Motorsports Park on March 21-22, before returning for Rounds 3 and 4 of the series at the end of April.

Posted by admin on Feb 4 ^th 2022 in Miscellaneous News

Billy Frazer Continues USF2000 Campaign With Exclusive Autosport In 2022

04/Feb/2022 Exclusive Autosport Release:

SASKATOON, SK (February 4, 2021) – Exclusive Autosport is pleased to announce the return of New Zealand’s Billy Frazer to the team for his sophomore season in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship in the #90 Tatuus USF-22 machine. In the 2021 USF2000 season, the 18-year-old completed every lap in all but one race in his 21 starts and posted two top-five and eight top-ten finishes. As last season was his first year of competition outside of his home country, Billy’s focus in the Tatuus USF-17 was learning the car and the tracks in North America. Armed with this valuable experience, the Kiwi will contend for wins straight out of the gate.

“I’m super excited to be back with the Exclusive Autosport team for the 2022 season,” said Frazer. “I will be looking to build on last years’ experience and performances. It’s game on now!”

“It is great to have Billy back with us for a second year of USF2000,” enthused Michael Duncalfe, Team Principal. “Billy got his feet wet with North America racing in 2021 and put up some solid performances. He had to learn a new car, new tracks, and the North American lifestyle the last year. He did a great job adapting to his new surroundings and came out stronger at each event. We are looking to build and capitalize on that growth and experience in our 2022 efforts and look forward to kicking things off in St. Petersburg in February.”

Exclusive Autosport is continuing with its off-season testing program with Frazer and his previously announced teammates Jacob Douglas, Louis Foster, and Christian Brooks at scheduled events in the southern states, ahead of the official Road to Indy Spring Training event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on February 14-15, 2022. The new season officially kicks off at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida on February 25-27, running alongside the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.