Devlin DeFrancesco

Early life

DeFrancesco was born on January 17, 2000 to Andrew and Cathy DeFrancesco. Born 15 weeks premature, Defrancesco's eyes were fused shut and he weighed only one pound. Doctors did not expect him to survive, and he was given his last rites by the DeFrancescos' priest. DeFrancesco remained in Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre until he was nursed back to health. By age 6, he was riding in and racing go-karts.

Racing career

DeFrancesco began racing go-karts in 2006 at the age of 6. He appeared in series and championships like the Florida Winter Tour and the SKUSA Pro Tour. In 2011, he spent a season racing in Italy's kart racing series where he finished 7th in the Final Cup race. By the end of 2011, he had made the podium in 12-straight national-level North American races, a record at the time.

In 2013, DeFrancesco won the Canadian National Junior Karting Championship. This was his second Canadian National Championship. He spent 2014 competing in Europe where he placed 2nd overall in the Italian Championship and 3rd overall in the CIK FIA European Championship. Also in 2014, he sustained an injury to his wrist that required two surgeries and kept him out of a full racing series for around a year. As part of his rehabilitation, DeFrancesco attended the Carlin Academy where he used a combination of simulators and on-track testing to prepare for FIA Formula 4-style racing.

Also in 2015, DeFrancesco was selected to be apart of the Generation Ganassi Driver Identification Program, a mentoring and talent development program sponsored by Chip Ganassi Racing. The program is in place 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 driver, Tony Kanaan.

Ginetta Junior Championship

DeFrancesco competed in the 2015 Ginetta Junior Championship on the HHC Motorsports team. He raced in circuits 5 through 10 for a total of 12 races. His best result came in the first race at the Knockhill Racing Circuit where he finished 7th. He also won the pole position for the first race at the Rockingham Motor Speedway. He finished the season 23rd overall with 66 points.

Toyota Racing Series

In early 2016, DeFrancesco raced in New Zealand's Toyota Racing Series on the Giles Motorsport team. This was the first time DeFrancesco had raced professionally in an open-wheel car. Over the course of the season, DeFrancesco accrued 7 top ten finishes. His best finish came in the third race at Teretonga Park where he finished 5th. In the standings, DeFrancesco finished 10th with a total of 465 points.

MSA Formula

DeFrancesco is began racing in the 2016 MSA Formula season for the Carlin Motorsports team. Carlin announced that he would be joining the team in late 2015 after spending time at the Carlin Academy during his injury rehabilitation. He took his first win on May 8, 2016 where he also had the fastest lap of the race.