Conquest Racing Gingerman test notes

Conquest Racing Atlantic Team had a Successful Two-day Test at Gingerman Raceway

Indianapolis, Indiana (May 17, 2007) -- The Conquest Racing Atlantic team concluded a productive two-day test at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, Michigan yesterday. After taking a short break from the three week stint in April, rookie drivers Giacomo Ricci and Matt Lee took to the track while the team worked on collecting data.

Coming back from a short break from his driving duties, 22-year old Italian Giacomo Ricci and his team was able to make good progression with the car. Ricci also had an opportunity to get a good feel for his new engineer, Tom Hoke.

18-year old Matt Lee also had a good experience at Gingerman Raceway. As one of the youngest drivers in the field, Lee's confidence is getting stronger. The test was a good chance for Lee to improve and get more experience behind the wheel.

Giacomo Ricci - #18 Mazda-Cosworth/Swift/Cooper

"I feel the testing was good. I think it is hard to judge your capabilities during this test because all the teams are not testing together, but overall I think we made good progress and we were able to find a good set-up. I was also able to get a better feel for the car and concentrate more on my driving without all the traffic of a race. Now that we are back home in Indy, we can take all the results from the test and continue to work on improving the car. I think we will be well prepared for Portland."

Matt Lee - #44 Mazda-Cosworth/Swift/Cooper

"I am still learning and I will take all the seat time I can get in order to feel more comfortable with the car. At the test I was able to get a good lap time and the team did a good job at getting me a nice set-up with the car. School is almost over for me and I will be able to completely focus on racing. I think I will be capable of great things by Portland and I will be ready to come out strong."

Steve Ragan - Team Manager

"Overall we had a good continuation with the development of both our drivers and the cars. We got a good start with our new driver/engineer combo with Giacomo and Tom Hoke in South Haven and I can see them working extremely well together. We were also able to learn more about what Lee needs with his car and he is continually improving as a driver. Now we can re-group at the shop and I think we will be able to take our team to another level by Portland."

The Conquest Atlantic team heads to another two-day test at the Carolina Motorsports Park on May 23 and 24. The team will then continue the season with Round 4 and 5 of the Champ Car Atlantic Championship on June 9 and 10 in Portland.

-credit: cr