Thonon and his second career as coach driver: “I learnt to believe in fate”

Jonathan Thonon in karting won everything. “The cannibal” was born 31 years ago in Waterloo and from 2007 to 2011 he won 4 titles with CRG.

Leader of the project Praga Karts, after the debated devorce the Belgian moved his interests progressively to the role of coach driver. In this new adventure, Jesse Carasquedo Jr.’s name stands out. The latter, close to the Sergio Perez’s family, is one of the most promising Mexican young drivers and Thonon’s role is to help him in his karting career.

How is being on the other side of the track? Not behind the steering wheel, but looking the race from the grandstand.
 
“I really enjoyed this first year as coach driver. I started as a driver and obviously I miss racing, but the fact that I’m getting more and more focused on this my new role tells me how strong my love for motorsport is.”
 
How did you come up with the idea to follow Carrasquedo Jr.?

“I believe in fate, and this sentence could appear meaningless, but let me explain… I’ve been twice in Mexico for the famous race at GPI. During the first occasion I was waiting the flight from Guadalajara to Mexico City and at the gate, by chance, I started talking with Jesse Carrasquedo Sr. He told me if I could have done something to help his son. I answered that I was really busy, but maybe we could have arranged something in the future. The occasion then presented itself… Free from previous contractual obligations, we started our technical collaboration that, then, turned into a sporting collaboration. Carrasquedo, infact, asked me to race with Sergio Perez’s team, with which I had some great results despite the fact that I wasn’t perfectly trained.”
 
What are your plans for the future?
 
“At the moment our goal is to move to Italy where Jesse Jr. will race the 2018 season. It will be a very tough and formative experience for him. Since we started our collaboration, progress are just incredible and this year he also took home the Rok title in the USA.”

Andrea Giustini