Francesco Dracone (born 21 September 1983) is an Italian racing driver who currently competes in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

with BHK Motorsport.

Career

Born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, Dracone began racing professionally in the

Italian Formula Three Championship The Italian Formula Three Championship was the Formula Three racing competition in Italy. History Formula Three has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone for F1 hopefuls - it is typically the first point in a driver's care ...

in 2002. He raced in that series until 2005. In 2006 he moved to

Euroseries 3000 Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

driving for

Euronova Racing Vincenzo Sospiri Racing Srl (also known as Fortec Italia Motorsport, Euronova Racing by Fortec, Euronova Racing, VS Racing) is an auto racing team based in Italy. History After retiring from racing, Vincenzo Sospiri decided to collaborate with For ...

. He finished 21st in points. He returned in 2007 driving for ASR and 2G Racing finishing 23rd in points. In 2008 he drove for

Emmebi Motorsport Emmebi Motorsport was an auto racing team based in Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its terr ...

and improved to 17th in points. He returned to the team and series in 2009 and improved further to 7th in points with a best finish of 5th at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

. He also competed in the International

Superstars Series The Superstars International Series was a production-based touring car racing championship held between 2004 and 2013. It was managed by the "Superstars World of Racing SpA", SWR, a company of FG GROUP with headquarters in Rome and sanctioned by t ...

season finale at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...

for Ferlito Motors. In July 2010 he participated in an

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

rookie test with

Conquest Racing Conquest Racing is an auto racing team that competed in the IndyCar Series and the Atlantic Championship. Formerly it competed in the Champ Car World Series. History It is owned by former series competitor Éric Bachelart. The team ran in Indy Li ...

. After passing the test he signed on to compete with the team at the

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

and

Infineon Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern S ...

. He was slowest among drivers who logged a qualifying time at Mid-Ohio but started 23rd on the 27 car grid due to being in the same group as

Milka Duno Milka Duno (born April 22, 1972) is a Venezuelan race car driver who competed in the IndyCar Series and ARCA Racing Series. She is best known for holding the record of highest finish for a female driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona. She entered ...

who elected not to participate in qualifying and

Graham Rahal Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winner ...

who was penalized. Dracone finished the race 3 laps down in 22nd place. He started last at Infineon, despite being a second quicker than Duno. The race saw Dracone spin off track close to the finish and he was credited with 20th place. He finished 37th in the championship. After four years in Auto GP he returned to IndyCar in 2015, signing a deal to drive the first four races for

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known as Payton-Coyn ...

. At

NOLA Motorsports Park NOLA Motorsports Park is a full service motorsports facility in Avondale, Louisiana approximately twenty minutes from downtown New Orleans. NOLA Motorsports Park includes an FIA, FIA Grade 2 road course, one of the largest (fully-lit) outdoor kart ...

he spun on the first lap but rejoined, before hitting his mechanic Todd Phillips after losing control of his car in the pit lane.

Racing record

American open–wheel results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

IndyCar Series

Complete Auto GP results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dracone, Francesco 1983 births Living people Racing drivers from Turin IndyCar Series drivers Italian Formula Three Championship drivers Auto GP drivers Superstars Series drivers Virtuosi Racing drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Ombra Racing drivers Conquest Racing drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers Euronova Racing drivers Super Nova Racing drivers