Devlin DeFrancesco (born January 17, 2000, Toronto, ON) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primaril ...

driver currently competing in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

for Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport. Prior to racing single-seater cars, DeFrancesco also had a career in

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ...

, finishing second in the 2013 Canadian National Junior Karting Championship, coming in second in the CSAI Italian Championship and third overall in the CIK FIA European Championship. In 2015, he was selected to be a part of the Generation Ganassi Driver Identification Program, a talent development program sponsored by

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship ...

. In January 2022, DeFrancesco won the 60th running of the Daytona 24, alongside his teammates Eric Lux, Patricio O'Ward and Colton Herta.

Early life

Devlin was born on January 17, 2000, to Andrew and Cathy DeFrancesco. Born 15 weeks

premature Premature may refer to: * ''Premature'' (2014 film), an American comedy film * ''Premature'' (2019 film), an American romantic drama film * '' PREMature'', a 2015 British television drama miniseries See also * Premature aging, of an organism * ...

, Devlin only weighed a pound and his eyes were fused shut. Doctors did not expect him to survive, and he was given his

last rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortal ...

by the family priest. Devlin remained in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC), commonly known as Sunnybrook Hospital or simply Sunnybrook, is an academic health science centre located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest trauma centre in Canada and one of two trauma centr ...

until he was nursed back to health. Defying all odds, at age 6 he started to race go-karts.

Racing career

Devlin DeFrancesco began racing go-karts in 2006 at the age of 6. Competing in the series Florida Winter Tour and the SKUSA Pro Tour. In 2011, he spent a season racing in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

's kart racing series where he finished 7th in the Final Cup race. By the end of 2011, he had set a record number of times on the podium with 12-straight national-level North American races. In 2013, DeFrancesco competed in the Canadian National Junior Karting Championship. He crossed the line in first position, and after a partially-successful appeal of a penalty which placed him 19th due to initiating race-ending contact with another driver, he finished second overall. Competing in Europe in 2014, he placed 2nd overall in the Italian Championship and 3rd overall in the CIK FIA European Championship. In 2014, he sustained an injury to his wrist that required two surgeries and that kept him out of a full racing series for roughly year. As part of his rehabilitation, Devlin attended the Carlin Academy, where he used a combination of simulators and on-track testing to prepare for

FIA Formula 4 FIA Formula 4, also called FIA F4, is an open-wheel racing car category intended for junior drivers. There is no global championship, but rather individual nations or regions can host their own championships in compliance with a universal set of ...

-style racing. In 2015, Devlin was selected to be a part of the Generation Ganassi Driver Identification Program, a mentoring and talent development program sponsored by

aiming to identify and assist up to 10 North American drivers between the ages of 13 and 18. During the official announcement, DeFrancesco was joined by

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapo ...

driver

Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...

Ginetta Junior Championship

Graduating from karts in 2015, Devlin competed in the

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Ginetta Junior Championship with British team, HHC Motorsports. with a best result of 7th during the first race at the

Knockhill Racing Circuit Knockhill Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Fife, Scotland. It opened in September 1974 and is Scotland's national motorsport centre. The circuit is located in the countryside about north of Dunfermline. It is the only Fédération ...

. Devlin also secured his first

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

at the

Rockingham Motor Speedway Rockingham Motor Speedway is a former racing motorsport venue in Rockingham, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom, near the town of Corby. It hosted professional and club races, as well as testing, track days, driver training, exhibiti ...

, finishing his debut season with 66 points.

Toyota Racing Series

In early 2016, Devlin got his first taste of single-seater racing competing in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

Toyota Racing Series The Formula Regional Oceania Championship is New Zealand's premier formula racing category. The series includes races for every major trophy in New Zealand circuit racing including the New Zealand Motor Cup and the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy. ...

on the Giles Motorsport team. Over the course of the season, Devlin secured 7 top ten finishes, with a seasons best of 5th at

Teretonga Park Teretonga (means "Swift South" in Maori) is a motor racing circuit situated south-west of Invercargill, New Zealand. It is home of the Southland Sports Car Club. The circuit was established in 1957 and is the southernmost FIA-recognised race ...

ending the season 10th overall with a total of 465 points.

MSA Formula

Devlin joined Carlin Motorsports for the

2016 MSA Formula season The 2016 F4 British Championship (known as 2016 MSA Formula Championship at the first two rounds) was a multi-event, Formula 4 open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held across England and Scotland. The championship featured a m ...

, graduating from the Carlin Academy He took his first win at Thruxton, also securing the fastest lap of the race. That same year, Devlin took 2 more wins one at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

and another in Croft.

Euroformula Open

Graduating to Europe, Devlin continued his collaboration with

Carlin Motorsport Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in five championships: FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 3 Championship, F4 British Championship, BRDC British Formula 3 ...

in the Euroformula Open and

Spanish Formula 3 The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europ ...

Championships in 2017. A strong campaign saw him end the season as

champion earning 3 wins and 5 podiums. Alongside an impressive Euroformula Open campaign, in which he took a victory and seven podiums, netting 3rd in the championship standings.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

Following his success in Spanish Formula 3 championship, Devlin joined the

FIA Formula 3 European Championship The FIA Formula 3 European Championship was a European Formula Three(F3) auto racing competition, organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). After one season of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, the FIA revived t ...

for the final two rounds of the 2017 season. He further teamed up with Carlin in 2018, taking to the track for the opening two races. However was forced to withdraw from the following round to undergo a small dental surgery, which coincided with Round 3 at the

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 19 ...

in Germany Following a full recovery, Devlin made the switch to join

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and th ...

for the remainder of the 2018 season, teaming up with

MP Motorsport MP Motorsport (previously Marcel Peters Motorsport) is a Dutch auto racing team currently competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. The team has also participated in Auto GP, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Europea ...

GP3 Series

Teaming up with

, Devlin joined the field at the second round on the calendar -

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

. Tackling a fresh new challenge, Devlin rapidly got to grips with his machinery and relished the opportunity to race in the support series for

Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

. Debuting in Austria, he earned 11th-place finish, narrowly missing out on points, but making up an astounding 9 places in only his first weekend behind the wheel. Despite having to miss another round, due to illness, Devlin completed the year in 21st place, with a strong showing in all the remaining races. Equalling his best finish in the final round at Abu Dhabi.

FIA Formula 3

In 2019, Devlin contested the inaugural FIA F3 championship, the series which was formed by the merger of the

and the

, as part of the

support schedule. Teaming up with

Trident Racing Trident Racing is a motor racing team that competes in single-seater formula racing. It was founded in 2006 in order to compete in the GP2 championship, which was Europe's second highest-ranking single-seater formula below Formula One. Trident is ...

to contest all eight rounds, beginning in the first round at Catalunya and culminating in the final round at Sochi. Taking to the track as part of the 30-car field, the championship saw Devlin fighting wheel-to-wheel against the fiercely competitive field and advancing through the pack at every opportunity. Quick to get to grips with the new machinery, Round 2 at Paul Ricard saw Devlin making up 13 places in the opening stages of the first race, before unfortunately retiring from the race. His strong racing form continued throughout the season, with a series of impressive fights through the pack. Narrowly missing out on points at the Red Bull Ring, he further impressed with strong results at Hungaroring, Monza and the closing round at Sochi. In February 2020, it was announced that Devlin would rejoin

for a second year in the championship

Asian Formula 3

During the 2019/2020 winter break Devlin teamed up with Absolute Racing, contesting in the 2019/20 F3 Asian Championship certified by FIA to retain his racing sharpness over the European winter break racing across Asia and the Middle East. Enjoying considerable success securing 3 podiums, a pole position and points in every race he competed in. Devlin missed the last 2 rounds of the championship over fears surrounding the spread of the Coronavirus

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Away from single-seaters, Devlin has also shown his skill, racing in the

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

. Joining the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

2018 grid Devlin made his first appearance with JDC-Miller MotorSports in the Oreca-Gibson car, affectionately dubbed the ‘Banana Boat’. Placing an impressive 6th on debut, in his first ever endurance race. Returning for the ‘

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ar ...

’ event at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

in October, Devlin and his teammates finished in 9th place. 2019 saw Devlin return to contest the 57th running of the Daytona 24 with

JDC MotorSports JDC–Miller MotorSports is a sports car racing team that currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team currently fields the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R full-time for Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbro ...

behind the wheel of the Cadillac DPi, as the youngest prototype driver on the grid. Racing through tough conditions alongside teammates Misha Goikhberg,

Tristan Vautier Tristan Vautier (born 22 August 1989) is a French professional racing driver. Racing career Formula Renault Born in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Isère, Vautier began his career in the French Formula Renault Campus series in 2006, where he finish ...

and

Rubens Barrichello Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 T ...

, the race ended ahead of the 22nd hour of racing, due to heavy rainfall, which placed the car in 5th place at the flag.

Road to Indy

In 2020, DeFrancesco joined Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport and competed at the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Championship. He scored two wins, nine top 5s, and was runner-up to

Sting Ray Robb Sting Ray Robb (born September 3, 2001) is an American racing driver. He competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 51 Dallara-Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing. Racing career Karting Robb received a go-kart at age five, ki ...

. The Canadian moved to Indy Lights in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

. With two podiums and nine top 5s, he finished 6th in points.

IndyCar

DeFrancesco joined the

for the 2022 season, continuing his relationship with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport. He had a best result of 12th at Gateway and ranked 23rd in the driver's standings.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As DeFrancesco was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
^‡ Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete F4 British Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers)

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As DeFrancesco was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete GP3 Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship Results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA Formula 3 Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate points for the fastest lap of top ten finishers) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

American open-wheel racing results

( key)

Indy Pro 2000 Championship

Indy Lights

IndyCar Series

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Indianapolis 500

References

External links