Conquest Racing qualifying report / Mexico City Race #14.

Conquest Racing’s Nelson Philippe (#34 Juniper Soul / Opes Prime / Cosworth / DP01 / Bridgestone) qualified in 14th position during Friday’s provisional session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Nelson complained of overall lack of grip and an unbalanced car. Nelson completed fewer laps than anyone today due to a chain of circumstances that started with a spin in this morning’s practice session.

Nelson had to switch to manual mode on the gearbox software in order to select the correct gear for the jump start after the spin. Unfortunately the gearbox stayed in the manual mode after the jump start and while entering the pit he selected reverse instead of first. The Conquest Crew did a great job fixing the problem and getting the car out with five minutes remaining in the session.

During today’s qualifying session Nelson and the team spent most of their time catching up due to only completing 9 laps compared to the 25 laps others did this morning. The fewer laps combined with the lack of a teammate’s data to compare himself to relegated Nelson’s Conquest car #34 into a disappointing 14th position.

Nelson and everyone at Conquest will be looking to improve his starting position for Sunday’s Gran Premio Tecate of Mexico City during tomorrow’s second and final qualifying session.

"I’m absolutely disappointed with my session today," said Nelson. "I’m struggling a lot for grip and seem to be drifting around the corners a lot. We will be working very hard tonight because I’m not too happy being two seconds off of the pace when I feel we could be doing better."

"We came here with high expectations and we are not happy with our provisional qualifying position. We had very little track time this morning and it hurt when qualifying came. However, I am confident we will make good progress overnight and be there when it counts."

1991 Indy Lights Champion Eric Bachelart started Conquest Racing in 1997 to compete in the Indy Lights series, winning races and scoring podium finishes with drivers such as Christophe Tinseau, Felipe Giaffone and Kristian Kolby.

Conquest Racing contested the 2002 Indy Racing League season with rookie Laurent Redon, netting a podium finish in just the third race of the season and clinching the Rookie of the Year award.

Conquest Racing rejoined the Champ Car family in 2003 and has been developing many rookie drivers over the past five years including Justin Wilson, Nelson Philippe, Charles Zwolsman and Andrew Ranger. Through their hard work, Conquest has scored eight top-five finishes and earned two podiums with Andrew Ranger and Jan Heylen. Conquest Racing looks forward to continuing its tradition of working with younger drivers and supporting the future of the Champ Car World Series.

- Elisabeth Williams -