Andretti Autosport Mid-Ohio Race Debrief

July 31, 2020|

Team News

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RACE 1.

Heading into the first tripleheader weekend of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tires season, Devlin DeFrancesco returned to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - where he tested in an Indy Pro 2000 car for the first time.

The Italian-Canadian rookie started 10th in Race 1 and battled for positions as the 25-lap race saw one caution. DeFrancesco finished the first race of three in seventh, collecting solid points to work his way up the championship standings.

RACE 2.

DeFrancesco started Race 2 from the eighth position, after a tough qualifying session Thursday where the top nine times were separated by almost eight-tenths of a second.

The Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport driver jockeyed early for positions to crack the top five. Running in group among second to sixth position, DeFrancesco was strategic as moisture came into play and made impressive passes to propel the No. 17 machine into second place with under five laps to go. DeFrancesco finished Race 2 in the second position, his second podium finish of 2020.

RACE 3.

The final race of the tripleheader event saw a grid set with the fastest lap from Race 2 collecting the pole position and descending lap times for the remainder of the field. With the lap time 'qualifying' format, DeFrancesco started Race 3 from eighth.

Lap 1 provided to be an eventful one as points leaders experienced issues, opening the door for DeFrancesco to gain positions and steady points. The rookie maneuvered his No. 17 through the field to ultimately finish Race 3 in fourth.

As official results were posted, DeFrancesco and the No. 17 machine were promoted to third place as another competitor received a technical infraction. Leaving Mid-Ohio, DeFrancesco holds a one point advantage to lead the points standings.

NEXT.

DeFrancesco and the Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport crew return for a second round of competition at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course next weekend (Aug. 7-9) for Rounds 7 & 8 of the 2020 season.

Keep up to speed between the checkers and the greens withAndrettiAutosport.comand via our suite of social media channels.

No. 17 ANDRETTI STEINBRENNER AUTOSPORT
RACE 1
START	FINISH	STANDING / POINTS
10	7	3 / 60
RACE 2
START	FINISH	STANDING / POINTS
8	2	3 / 85
RACE 3
START	FINISH	STANDING / POINTS
8	3	1 /107
	"I think this weekend was really a testament to how our No. 17 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport team works together. We were struggling a little bit when we rolled off the trailer, but slowly got better and better as the weekend went on. The car was an absolute rocket ship in the mixed conditions and I was really able to capitalize in the second race. And then by Race 3 it was much better in the dry. I’m so happy with our outcome this weekend. To start out struggling a little bit and come out with two podiums and the championship lead, it’s really hard not to be incredibly excited for the rest of the season. I’m so ready for the further races, and to especially return to Mid-Ohio next week and hopefully get that first win of the year."