Devlin DeFrancesco

Devlin DeFrancesco is a Canadian auto racing driver who last competed in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. In January 2022, DeFrancesco won the sixtieth running of the Daytona 24, alongside his teammates Eric Lux, Patricio O'Ward and Colton Herta, in the LMP2 class.

Early life

DeFrancesco was born fifteen weeks premature on January 17, 2000, to Andrew and Cathy DeFrancesco. Weighing only a pound at birth, he was cared for at Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre until he was nursed back to health.

Racing career

Karting

In 2014, DeFrancesco placed second overall in the Italian Championship and third 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-style racing.
In 2015, DeFrancesco was selected to be a part of the Generation Ganassi Driver Identification Program, a mentoring and talent development program sponsored by Chip Ganassi Racing aiming to identify and assist up to ten North American drivers between the ages of thirteen and eighteen.

Ginetta Junior Championship

Graduating from karts in 2015, DeFrancesco competed in the 2015 Ginetta Junior Championship with HHC Motorsports. He finished 23rd in the standings with 66 points.

Toyota Racing Series

In early 2016, DeFrancesco competed in New Zealand's 2016 [Toyota Racing Series|Toyota Racing Series] with Giles Motorsport. He finished the season tenth overall with a total of 465 points.

MSA Formula

DeFrancesco joined Carlin Motorsports for the 2016 [F4 British Championship|2016 MSA Formula season], taking three wins and finishing fifth in the points standings.

Euroformula Open

DeFrancesco continued his collaboration with Carlin Motorsport in the Euroformula Open and Spanish Formula 3 Championships in 2017. A strong campaign saw him end the season as Spanish Formula 3 champion with three wins and five podiums. He also won a victory and seven podiums in the Euroformula Open championship, netting third in the championship standings.

FIA Formula 3 European Championship

DeFrancesco joined the FIA [Formula 3 European Championship] for the final two rounds of the 2017 season. He once again teamed up with Carlin in 2018, competing in the opening two races. He was forced to withdraw from the following round to undergo dental surgery, and subsequently made the switch to join GP3 Series for the remainder of the 2018 season, teaming up with MP Motorsport.

GP3 Series

Joining MP Motorsport, DeFrancesco finished the year in 21st place without scoring points.

FIA Formula 3

In 2019, DeFrancesco contested the inaugural FIA F3 championship, with Trident Racing. He did not score throughout the year and finished 25th.
In February 2020, it was announced that DeFrancesco would rejoin Trident Racing for a second year in the championship, but he was forced to withdraw from the season amongst fears of COVID-19, DeFrancesco being immunocompromised.

Asian Formula 3

DeFrancesco took part in a partial [2019–20 F3 Asian Championship|2019/20 F3 Asian Championship certified by FIA] campaign with Absolute Racing, finishing seventh in the championship with three podiums.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

DeFrancesco raced in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, joining the grid for the 2018 24 Hours of Daytona. He finished sixth on debut, and returned for the ‘Petit Le Mans’ event at Road Atlanta in October, finishing in ninth place.
2019 saw DeFrancesco return to the Daytona 24 with JDC MotorSports. Alongside teammates Misha Goikhberg, Tristan Vautier and Rubens Barrichello, the race ended early ahead of the 22nd hour of racing due to heavy rainfall, which placed the car in fifth place at the flag.

Road to Indy

In 2020, DeFrancesco joined Steinbrenner Racing and Andretti Autosport to compete the 2020 [Indy Pro 2000 Championship]. He scored two wins and was runner-up to Sting Ray Robb.
The Canadian moved to Indy Lights in 2021 in a car co-entered by Steinbrenner Racing and Andretti Autosport. With two podiums and nine top-fives, he finished sixth in the points standings.

IndyCar

DeFrancesco joined the IndyCar Series for the 2022 season, driving the Number 29 car entered as Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport. He had a best result of twelfth at Gateway and ranked 23rd in the driver's standings. DeFrancesco continued with the same team for the 2023 season and finished 22nd. DeFrancesco failed to secure a ride for the 2024 season and did not participate in any IndyCar races that season.
DeFrancesco would return to the series in 2025 after signing a multi-year deal to drive for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Following Mick Schumacher's signing in November 2025, DeFrancesco is out of a IndyCar ride for 2026.

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2015	Ginetta Junior Championship	HHC Motorsport	12	0	1	0	0	66	23rd
2016	F4 British Championship	Carlin	30	3	1	2	10	265	5th
2016	Italian F4 Championship	Mücke Motorsport	18	0	0	0	0	40	19th
2016	Toyota Racing Series	Giles Motorsport	15	0	0	0	0	465	10th
2017	Euroformula Open Championship	Carlin	16	1	0	0	7	172	3rd
2017	Spanish Formula 3 Championship	Carlin	6	1	0	0	3	119	1st
2017	FIA Formula 3 European Championship	Carlin	6	0	0	0	0	0	NC†
2017	Macau Grand Prix	Carlin	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2018	GP3 Series	MP Motorsport	12	0	0	0	0	0	21st
2018	FIA Formula 3 European Championship	Carlin	6	0	0	0	0	0	25th
2018	2018 [IMSA SportsCar Championship\|IMSA SportsCar Championship - Prototype]	JDC-Miller MotorSports	2	0	0	0	0	47	38th
2019	FIA Formula 3 Championship	Trident	16	0	0	0	0	0	25th
2019	IMSA SportsCar Championship - DPi	JDC-Miller MotorSports	1	0	0	0	0	26	32nd
2019–20	F3 Asian Championship	Absolute Racing	9	0	1	1	3	101	7th
2020	Indy Pro 2000 Championship	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	17	2	3	1	6	341	2nd
2021	Indy Lights	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	20	0	0	0	2	326	6th
2021	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2	DragonSpeed USA	2	0	0	0	1	0	NC‡
2022	IndyCar Series	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	17	0	0	0	0	206	23rd
2022	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2	DragonSpeed USA	2	1	0	0	1	0	NC‡
2023	IndyCar Series	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	17	0	0	0	0	177	22nd
2023	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2	Rick Ware Racing	3	0	0	0	0	484	22nd
2024	IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD	Forte Racing	5	0	0	1	1	1305	26th
2025	IndyCar Series	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	16	0	0	0	0	171	26th

^† 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.

Complete Ginetta Junior Championship results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	DC	Points
2015	HHC Motorsport	BHI 1	BHI 2	DON 1	DON 2	THR 1	THR 2	OUL 1	OUL 2	CRO 1 Ret	CRO 2 23	SNE 1 20	SNE 2 13	KNO 1 7	KNO 2 11	ROC 1 14	ROC 2 11	SIL 1 11	SIL 2 Ret	BHGP 1 Ret	BHGP 2 18	23rd	66

Complete Toyota Racing Series results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	DC	Points
2016	Giles Motorsport	RUA 1 14	RUA 2 10	RUA 3 6	TER 1 Ret	TER 2 14	TER 3 5	HMP 1 11	HMP 2 13	HMP 3 12	TAU 1 8	TAU 2 11	TAU 3 10	MAU 1 7	MAU 2 9	MAU 3 13	10th	465

Complete F4 British Championship results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	DC	Points
2016	Carlin	BHI 1 10	BHI 2 Ret	BHI 3 7	DON 1 5	DON 2 Ret	DON 3 17	THR 1 2	THR 2 Ret	THR 3 1	OUL 1 1	OUL 2 7	OUL 3 2	CRO 1 4	CRO 2 Ret	CRO 3 1	SNE 1 2	SNE 2 3	SNE 3 2	KNO 1 2	KNO 2 Ret	KNO 3 9	ROC 1 Ret	ROC 2 9	ROC 3 7	SIL 1 3	SIL 2 5	SIL 3 4	BHGP 1 Ret	BHGP 2 16	BHGP 3 7	5th	265

Complete Italian F4 Championship results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	DC	Points
2016	Mücke Motorsport	MIS 1 23	MIS 2 9	MIS 3	MIS 4 10	ADR 1	ADR 2	ADR 3	ADR 4	IMO1 1 Ret	IMO1 2 7	IMO1 3 Ret	MUG 1 8	MUG 2 5	MUG 3 5	VAL 1 9	VAL 2 Ret	VAL 3 DNS	IMO2 1 Ret	IMO2 2 11	IMO2 3 8	MNZ 1 Ret	MNZ 2 12	MNZ 3 6	19th	40

Complete Euroformula Open Championship results

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2017	Carlin Motorsport	EST 1 12	EST 2 5	SPA 1 3	SPA 2 2	LEC 1 Ret	LEC 2 5	HUN 1 8	HUN 2 Ret	SIL 1 2	SIL 2 2	MNZ 1 7	MNZ 2 Ret	JER 1 2	JER 2 3	CAT 1 1	CAT 2 5	3rd	172

Complete FIA Formula 3 European Championship results

Year

Entrant

Engine

Points

RBR
1
16

RBR
2
20

RBR
3
12

HOC
1
19

HOC
2
17

HOC
3
14

NC†

0†

2018

Carlin

Volkswagen

PAU
1
Ret

PAU
2
Ret

PAU
3
Ret

HUN
1
18

HUN
2
16

HUN
3
14

NOR
1
WD

NOR
2
WD

NOR
3
WD

ZAN
1
WD

ZAN
2
WD

ZAN
3
WD

25th

^† As DeFrancesco was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

Complete GP3 Series/FIA Formula 3 Championship results

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship Results

^† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.

Complete F3 Asian Championship results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Pos	Points
2019-20	Absolute Racing	SEP1 1 3	SEP1 2 9	SEP1 3 2	DUB 1 5	DUB 2 6	DUB 3 5	ABU 1 6	ABU 2 3	ABU 3 7	SEP2 1	SEP2 2	SEP2 3	CHA 1	CHA 2	CHA 3	7th	101

American open-wheel racing results

Indy Pro 2000 Championship

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Rank	Points
2020	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	ROA 2	ROA 4	MOH 7	MOH 2	MOH 3	LOR 4	GMP 1	IMS 4	IMS 2	IMS 8	MOH 14	MOH 11	NJM 1	NJM 10	NJM 10	Firestone [Grand Prix of St. Petersburg\|STP] 7	STP 6	2nd	341