his weekend’s replacement rounds of the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course were originally scheduled to be a special “home” race for Devlin DeFrancesco.

The Toronto-born racer was due to make his home soil pro racing debut this year in Canada but the Honda Indy Toronto event was sadly cancelled for the second year in a row due to the COVID-19 pandemic – denying DeFrancesco the chance for his “homecoming.”

Rather than racing on the Toronto streets, the Indy Lights Championship will now return to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course which previously hosted Rounds 11 and 12 on the Fourth of July weekend this year.

The Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport racer will contest what is a “compact” weekend for the Indy Lights teams. A single 45-minute practice session on Friday will prepare the teams and drivers for the weekend where both Saturday and Sunday will feature a single qualifying session and a race.

DeFrancesco has his sights firmly focussed on returning to the podium this weekend. At the previous rounds at Mid-Ohio he scored a pair of fifth-place finishes.

Race fans can catch the action live this weekend on the Road to Indy app. REV TV will present the action for fans in Canada, while international fans can watch the live stream at The Race’s YouTube channel at the-race.com/youtube.

DeFrancesco’s 2021 Indy Lights campaign is backed by hydrogen production and dispensing fueling infrastructure innovators, Powertap Hydrogen; Kimoa – the fashion, clothing, and accessories brand founded by Fernando Alonso; world-class racing simulator manufacturer AIS; Apple’s largest premium retail partner, Simply Mac; Seattle, WA-based Jones Soda Co; software and services company Fyllo; Seattle-WA and Sol Yoga.

SCHEDULE
Friday, Oct 1:
3:00 PM-3:45 PM Practice
Saturday, Oct 2:
9:25 AM-10:05 AM Qualifying 1
1:00 PM-1:50 PM Race 1
Sunday, Oct 3:
8:45 AM-9:15 AM Qualifying 2
12:00 PM-12:50 PM Race 2
(US Eastern time)

DEVLIN DEFRANCESCO Q&A

Q: How much are you looking forward to returning to Mid-Ohio this weekend?
A: “I’m really looking to finish this year strong. It’s been a difficult year, but I think we look strong going into this weekend. I want nothing more than to end the year strong for the PowerTap Andretti Steinbrenner crew and end with a bang.
“For a good lap at Mid-Ohio – you definitely need to be committed and really in that zone because it’s a real rhythm to kind of place.
“So once you’re in that rhythm and you seem to have everything connected, you’ll definitely be strong. That’s for sure the biggest challenge.
“My favorite part of Mid-Ohio I’d say is just how fast the place is in certain corners. And when you’re in that flow, and you nail a lap there, there’s really no better feeling.
“I really want nothing more than to end the season on a high and move on ready for the next challenge.”

Q: How disappointing was it to miss the opportunity to race in Toronto this year?
A: “I was really shattered about that but I certainly understand. The COVID-19 pandemic has delivered challenging times for us all, but hopefully we’re getting closer to getting back to normal and we can race again next year in front of the Canadian fans.
“Not only was I disappointed to not get to race in Canada, but I also love street circuits and was really looking forward to the chance of doing another street race this year.”

Q: How have you prepared for this weekend at Mid-Ohio?
A: “In the last round at Laguna Seca we tried a bunch of things on the car and used the day as a bit of a test to prepare for this weekend at Mid-Ohio.
“We’re looking to take what we learned from that day and hopefully make a step forward this weekend.
“Everyone raced here a couple of months ago, but you don’t have a lot of time to prepare for this weekend with only a single practice session.
“We’re going to have to focus on really hitting the ground running and hopefully the No.17 PowerTap car will be fast on Friday and we can continue to push throughout the weekend.”

The Driver

The Team

The Car

The Races