Conquest Racing Moving Forward

With the 2008 season coming to an end, the Conquest Racing team has begun work on 2009 by taking on a new direction with the implementation of the team’s "Accept No Limits" business philosophy and by appointing marketing and sales veterans to the Conquest Marketing Department.

While the drivers and engineers continue to work with the car’s competitive limits, the business side of the team is making sure nothing is holding them back and accepting no limits as they keep moving forward in preparation of the 2009 season and beyond.

One of the first steps taken by team founder Eric Bachelart under Conquest’s new philosophy was the addition of key sales and marketing professionals. Making up the bigger and better Conquest Racing marketing team are Lou Cantin, Director of Sales and Marketing, Pablo Santa Cruz, Business Development Consultant and Brian Skinner, Sales and Marketing Consultant.

"We’re focused on moving ahead, on growing this team as we continue to pursue excellence in the IndyCar Series. It’s been a year of learning for us, of getting used to our new surroundings and now we’re ready to take this one step further," said Eric Bachelart, Conquest Racing Team Owner. "The additions of Lou, Pablo and Brian are an important first step in helping us take on this new direction, their experience and different expertise will be of great value to us as we take this team to the next level."

All three additions to the marketing department have many years of experience in and a vast knowledge of the motorsports field, bringing each their own skills to the mix.

Lou Cantin was Director of Sales and Marketing for the Grand Prix Americas before moving to the Champ Car World Series as Director of Sales. Pablo Santa Cruz is a successful entrepreneur and driver in the sports and rally car circuits who serves as Chairman and CEO of TOPVIEW, an Investment and Business Management company, as Director of NorthStar Banking Corporation, and as Chairman of Grupo Santa Cruz, an Investments Holding Company and Charitable Foundation. Last but not least, Brian Skinner is the COO of Diamond Carter Trading, a Wall Street trading firm and drove in the Skip Barber racing series.

With this group in place, Conquest Racing has started preparing the future and has confirmed their long-term commitment to the IndyCar Series as well as its vision of being one of the Series’ top teams.

Conquest Racing was founded in 1997 by Eric Bachelart, the team initially competed in the Indy Lights Series up until 2002 when the team moved up to the IndyCar Series for one season. In 2003, Conquest Racing entered the Champ Car World Series and finally returned to the IndyCar Series this year following the unification of American open-wheel racing.

While preparations for 2009 are undergoing, Conquest Racing is still concentrating on the job at hand, which is to complete its first season in a unified IndyCar Series on a high note. The team is preparing for the upcoming race on the streets of Surfers Paradise, Australia which takes place October 26. The race will be broadcast live on ESPN Classic at 10:30 p.m. eastern time October 25 and will re-air on ESPN2 at 11:00 p.m. Sunday, October 26.  

- Karina Redmond -