It was another weekend of competition and another podium result for DeFrancesco Racing (DFR) as Devlin DeFrancesco would garner another podium result at the United States Rotax Grand Nationals. With the event taking place at the Jet Karting of Michiana Raceway Park facility, the 2011 Pan American Champion would show his speed throughout the race weekend but come up just short of the main event victory to cross the stripe in the third position. Younger brother Lachlan would enjoy his first Rotax Grand Nationals experience and finish just outside the top twenty after the final checkered flag had flown.
Sporting his Bernard Richards Manufacture (BRM Watches) timepiece, Devlin would qualify his DFR prepared ride in the second position, as the rain would fall. Proving his skills in the wet conditions, DeFrancesco narrowly missed the pole position by a mere .009 seconds and would start each of the three heat races from outside the front row.
With the three heat race flight format, consistency would be needed to ensure a good starting spot for Saturday morning’s prefinal. With Thursday afternoon’s first heat running in the rain, Devlin would struggle slightly to take the checkers in the tenth position. Heats two and three would be completed in the dry on Friday morning and Friday afternoon and the young champion improved greatly to finish third in heat two and take the victory in heat three.
With the heat race points calculated, Devlin would line up outside row two in the fourth position for the start of the prefinal. With the results setting the grid for the main event, rain began to fall once again, but this time, Devlin was ready to go. Turning some fast race laps for the wet weather, the Yogen Fruz and Yogurty’s sponsored driver crossed the line with the win. Post race tech would see Devlin relegated to the third position due to a bumper width infraction that was a result of an on track incident.
“Devlin’s bumper was not within the rules but it was clearly due to an incident during the prefinal,” explained Team Manager and Driver Coach Nick Mitchell. “The rules are the rules and we had to accept the penalty and would be classified in the third position.”
Excited for the main event and his shot at a national championship, the skies began to clear and the racing surface dried. With new tires in place and a renewed sense of energy, Devlin would quickly move into the second position at the drop of the green flag as he looked to challenge the leader. Falling back to third just past the halfway mark, Devlin would hold station for the remainder of the event and represent DFR and his sponsors in the afternoon’s podium ceremonies.
“Devlin showed the speed all weekend long in both wet and dry action,” expressed Mitchell. “We were hoping to leave here with another victory but to stand on the podium in such a stout field of drivers is something that we are happy with as a team.”
Devlin’s younger brother Lachlan would also see action in the Rotax Mini Max class as he entered his first Grand Nationals in his short career. Qualifying his Supertune USA powered DFR machine in the 25th position, the young up-and-coming pilot secured 25th, 31st and 30th in his three heat races. Improving throughout the day on Championship Saturday, Lachlan claimed the 27th position in the prefinal before gaining another five positions in the main event to come home 22nd.
Devlin DeFrancesco added, “We are happy to score another podium result for our sponsors: Yogen Fruz, Yogurty’s and BRM Watches. We will look to continue our podium streak next week at the Canadian National Championships.”
For more information on Devlin and Lachlan DeFrancesco’s supporters, please visit them online at www.BRM-Manufacture.com, www.Yogurtys.com and www.YogenFruz.com or follow them on Twitter at @MyWatchIs_BRM, @Yogurtys and @YogenFruz.
For more information on DeFrancesco Racing, please contact Andy DeFrancesco via e-mail to Info@DFRUSA.com or visit them online at www.DFRUSA.com. For more information on Devlin DeFrancesco, please visit him online at www.DevlinDeFrancesco.com. For real time updates from DFR Racing and Devlin DeFrancesco live trackside, please follow them on Twitter at @DFR_USA, @DevlinD00 and @LachlanD03.
