Jesse Carrasquedo is a very promising 14 year old Mexican kart driver with dreams of reaching the top of motorsport. Having achieved excellent results from his debut in his home country, then in the United States and now in Europe for the last four years, Jesse has moved up from Junior to OK in 2021. After several preparatory events, he has just entered a new decisive stage in his career by making his debut in the FIA Karting European Championship, staying with the official Parolin Motorsport team.
Jesse Carrasquedo has a very busy sporting schedule this year, which makes the young driver very happy to be defending the Mexican colours in international karting. “In parallel to the tests I am conducting in F4 in preparation for my debut in 2022, I am focused on this season in OK,” commented Jesse. “I have competed in several events since February. The WSK series has been going on at various Italian circuits and I was able to prepare as well as I could for the first European Championship event in Genk, Belgium by racing at that circuit for the opening of the Champions of the Future, a top international series.” With this string of competitions, Jesse can fortunately rely on his excellent physical fitness, on which he works diligently with his coach Xavi Martos.
SERGIO PEREZ HAS HIS EYE ON JESSE
OK is an extremely competitive category where every detail counts. “I’m one of the youngest drivers in the field, I have to fight against drivers who sometimes have three or four years of experience. I’m not here just to progress, even if that’s what I do every race. I want to get to the front of the pack very quickly to reach the top positions. I know that it is a huge challenge, that the step to climb is high, but I am ready. I really want to stand out from the other drivers.”
Jesse Carrasquedo knows he can rely on the know-how of the Parolin team and the performance of the TM Racing engines. The Mexican hopeful is very interested in technology and spends a lot of time studying data acquisition. “For several years I have benefited from the advice of my coach Jonathan Thonon, several times World Karting Champion. At Parolin, I can now rely on the Italian Lorenzo Travisanutto, twice OK World Champion. His help is precious, technically and strategically. There are about 60 drivers lapping in the same second, so the duels in the pack are never-ending. I have to fight hard to get out of the pack.”
Unfortunately, success was not on the agenda in Belgium. “The changing weather conditions led to some racing incidents where I was involved. However, I was fast in both dry and wet conditions, as evidenced by the Qualifying Heat which I finished in 5th position. In WSK and Champions of the Future, I have shown that I belong among the finalists, so my motivation will be there for the next race in France,” concluded Jesse, encouraged by Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez, who is closely following his compatriot’s performances.
ABOUT JESSE
Born on 27th April, 2007, Jesse Carrasquedo Jr is today one of the great Mexican hopes. Already behind the wheel of a kart at the age of six, the discipline that he started for fun quickly became a passion. Since then, he has been devoted 100% with motivation, work and determination to reaching his ultimate goal: Formula 1.
Winner of several karting events on the American continent, Jesse has progressed a lot thanks to Sergio Perez’s racing school located in Guadalajara and the team of Antonio Perez, the brother of the famous driver. The Mexican didn’t hesitate to come to live in Europe to compete against the best karting hopefuls. Competing in Mini in 2017 and 2018, then in Junior in 2019 and 2020, this promising driver finished 5th in the Rok Cup International Superfinal in Italy last year at the end of a season that was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now 14 years old and a member of the official Parolin Motorsport team, in 2021, Jesse has moved up from Junior to OK, the category before ascending to single-seaters. The young Mexican is preparing his debut in Formula 4 racing very seriously. Closely followed by Red Bull Racing Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez, he is training intensively with the prestigious Campos Racing academy, which has produced drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Luca Di Grassi and Sergio Perez. He benefits from the advice of a driver trained by Adrian Campos, Marc Gené, the former F1 driver, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and still a test driver for Ferrari.
