Having moved to the United States of America last year, Nicolas Jamin claimed a podium finish during his first appearance in the USF 2000 series, Indycar’s waiting room, during the St Petersburg round.
This season he will be entering the series once more, but this time with the title-winning team, ‘CAPE MOTORSPORT with Wayne Taylor Racing’ and will be aiming for the 2015 crown. The USF 2000 is the first step on the ‘Mazda Road to Indy’, a real trampoline to the United States’ top motorsport category.
A quick and efficient rise After a promising start in karting in 2010, Nicolas moved to single-seater competition via the Autosport Academy, and F4 in particular, where he finished 7th in his first season. The following year, he caught the attention in Formula Renault 2.0, racing for team ART in the Northern European Cup. In 2014, he decided to turn to the USA and the USF 2000.
A more professional entourage Until recently, Nicolas has been mainly assisted by his family, but he will now have the support of the former Formula 1, DTM and 24 Hours of Le Mans driver Eric van de Poele. He will be able to benefit from his top-level experience at each round of the USF 2000. He will also be accompanied by Ugo Meloni, former team manager at a number of major European teams, who will be the intermediary with the team. Finally, Nicolas will be followed full-time by a specialized motorsports communications agency, « XV COM » (Xavier Verbeke Communication), which already works with drivers such as Sébastien Loeb, Anthony Beltoise or Nicolas Marroc. Their work will include press releases, social media, web site, a smartphone application and the organization of PR events.
Some events in France This season, even if the USF 2000 will be Nicolas’ priority, his schedule should allow him to make some appearances in France or Europe, in series such as Porsche Carrera Cup or in the LMP2 category in Endurance. He will also be taking part in the 12 Hours of Sebring in the IMSA LITES category.At just 19 years of age, Nicolas is one of a small group of drivers with great potential. The 2015 calendar of the USF 2000 includes eight rounds, from March to September. Before the start of the season, he will take part in the official test session and the “Winter Tests” . The first of these winter events will take place at the Palmbeach International Raceway and the Homestead Miami Speedway on January 25th and 28th. The first races (winter preparatory races known as the Winter Tests) will take place on the 19th, 20th, 25th and 26th February at the circuits of Nola and Barber. As for the USF 2000 Championship itself, the season will get underway at Saint Petersburg on March 29th.
This weekend, Nicolas will be heading for the United States for the winter test sessions for the IMSA series, (including the TUDOR United Championship, the Prototype Lites series and the Porsche GT3 Cup) at Daytona.NICOLAS JAMIN : ”I can’t wait for the season to get underway. I know the circuits on the USF 2000 calendar having driven there last year during my first season. I have done a lot of training, both physically and on the simulator, throughout the winter. CAPE MOTORSPORT is the reigning champion and I hope to accomplish great things with them. They are extremely professional, and I feel at ease with the engineers and mechanics. The atmosphere is very good. I can’t wait ! “
CAREER RECORD :2010 : karting debut2011 : 1st karting competitions2012 : single-seater debut in F4 – finished 7th.2013 : FR 2.0 (NEC) finished 7th and best French rookie2014 : 1st year in the United States in USF 2000, with a podium at St Petersburg
