Conquest Racing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Conquest Racing is an auto racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and Champ Car Atlantic Championship . Formerly it competed in the Champ Car World Series. It is owned by former series competitor Eric Bachelart. The team ran in Indy Lights competition in the late 1990s with Felipe Giaffone, who brought sponsorship from Hollywood cigarettes and Mi-Jack sponsored brothers Chris and Jamie Menninga. The team jumped to the Indy Racing League in 2002 with Laurent Rédon; the Frenchman won rookie of the year honors but was not retained when the team jumped ship to Champ Car in 2003.
The team ran Mario Haberfeld in an unloved Reynard chassis and shared information and resources with Emerson Fittipaldi's team, that ran future Formula 1 driver Tiago Monteiro. In 2004 the team expanded to two cars, fielding Justin Wilson in a Lola with several others in a Reynard. Wilson signed with RuSPORT for 2005 and Conquest ran teenagers Nelson Philippe and Andrew Ranger, each 18 years old when the season started.
While Philippe left for 2006, the team retained Ranger dependent on his Canadian sponsorship and signed 2005 Champ Car Atlantic champion Charles Zwolsman to the second car. There were rumors Darren Manning would replace Ranger early in the season but this was put to rest with his on-track performances and more money coming into the team. Internet betting web site Goldenpalace.com signed on as Zwolsman's sponsor at the second race in Houston.
The team branched into the Atlantic ranks in 2006 with drivers Graham Rahal and Al Unser III.
After the 2006 season, Mike Lanigan pulled his company's support from the race team due to a lack of funding. In a Speedtv.com article, Bachelart was about to shut down his team when his sponsor called with a deal for the 2007 season.[1] But on February 6, 2007 a New York based company, later confirmed to be vodka company 42 Below, gave them sponsorship with former A1 Grand Prix driver Matt Halliday. However, after poor performances in Vegas, Long Beach, and Houston, Halliday was released in favor of Jan Heylen. Jan Heylen drove the next 9 races for Conquest Racing and his best finish was a 2nd place at the Bavaria Grand Prix of Holland. On October 3rd it was announced that Jan Heylen would be replaced for the rest of the season by the returning Nelson Philippe.
In Late December of 2007 the team announced the signing of new marketing partner, Opes Prime Group Ltd, an Australian-based financial services provider. Following the unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League, Conquest was the first Champ Car team to confirm their participation in the IRL IndyCar Series, with driver Franck Perera named to drive one of the team's two cars.[2] The other driver entry has been confirmed as Enrique Bernoldi will be driving for Conquest Racing during the 2008 IRL Championship.
However on the eve of the opening race of the 2008 IndyCar Season, on 28 March 2008, Opes Prime was placed in receivership,and left the team shortly after. Sangari steped up to sponsor both cars after Ares also left the team.[3] After the Long Beach Grand Prix, Perera was replaced in the #34 car by Jaime Camara to complete a fully Brazilian lineup.
[edit] Past drivers
Enrique Bernoldi (2008)- Jaime Camara (2008)
- Mario Haberfeld (2003)
Matt Halliday (2007).svg/22px-Flag_of_Belgium_(civil).svg.png)
Jan Heylen (2007)
Franck Perera (2008)- Nelson Philippe (2004-2005, 2007)
Andrew Ranger (2005-2006)- Laurent Redon (2002)
- Alex Sperafico (2004)
Justin Wilson (2004)
Charles Zwolsman (2006)
[edit] References
- ^ New Sponsor for Conquest Racing?, PaddockTalk.com, February 6, 2007
- ^ Lewandowski, Dave. Conquest Racing the first to make move; Perera named, IndyCar.com, February 25, 2008
- ^ Lyndal McFarland and Andrew Harrison. 'Irregularities' At Opes Prime Trigger Probe, Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2008
==External links Official Website
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 This motorsport-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
