IndyCar

Homestead: Conquest Racing preview

Conquest Racing Homestead Test Wrap Up and Race Preview Homestead , Fla. (March 26, 2008) - Conquest Racing wrapped up their pre-season testing yesterday at Homestead-Miami Speedway ahead of this weekend's first race of the 2008 IndyCar Series ...

Published: Mar 28, 2008, 5:07 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Conquest Racing Homestead Test Wrap Up and Race Preview

Homestead , Fla. (March 26, 2008) - Conquest Racing wrapped up their pre-season testing yesterday at Homestead-Miami Speedway ahead of this weekend's first race of the 2008 IndyCar Series season. The test was deemed successful by team owner Eric Bachelart as well as drivers Enrique Bernoldi (#36 Opes Prime Dallara/Honda/Firestone) and Franck Perera (#34 ARES/Opes Prime Dallara/Honda/Firestone), who were making their first appearance on an oval track.

While the first day was dedicated to getting the drivers acclimated to driving on an oval, day two was focused on finding speed, preparing for the first race of the season and getting used to the wind, who decided to be a factor in the second day of testing. Bernoldi completed a total of 186 laps aboard his Opes Prime machine and set his fastest lap on day two. His lap of 25.4470 seconds (210.084 mph) was a little over three tenths of a second off the best time registered during the test.

"I'm happy with how the test went," expressed Bernoldi who ended up fourth quickest overall and second amongst the transition teams. "The times from the transition teams were very close but we do know that we still have to catch up to the established IndyCar Series teams which will take some time but it's a good start for us. I look forward to the race this weekend. My goal will be to simply finish it in the best position possible and to keep the car intact. It's the best way to gain experience and keep getting better. Racing at night will also be new to me. I thought it would affect our vision but it wasn't too different because the lighting is very good."

Perera, the 2007 Atlantic Championship runner-up, completed 172 laps over the two days and put in a fastest lap of 25.5560 seconds (209.188 mph).

"Yesterday was better than Monday, for sure," said Perera. "The more laps I put in, the more I build my confidence level. We were able to find a little bit more speed and focus more on the set up of the car yesterday and we had the added difficulty of dealing with the wind. There is still a lot to learn, but the best learning experience will be the race itself. Our expectations for the weekend are realistic and our goal is to soak up the most experience possible. I also look forward to racing at night because I never have done that before. Racing under the lights is even more exciting and it creates a completely different atmosphere than during the day, making it even more interesting."

Conquest Racing owner Eric Bachelart commented: "It was a very satisfying test on the oval. We can now better quantify the progress we have to make to be more competitive and run at the front on this type of track. This being said, the test went very smoothly and I am proud of what this whole team and the drivers have achieved in such a short period of time. Enrique and Franck progressed well over both days and did a very good job for never having driven on an oval. But these last two days were only the beginning of what will be a year of learning ovals, the best experience they will get, will be in a race situation starting this weekend. Our goal is to do the best we can and learn as much as possible and to keep improving over the season."

#34 Franck Perera ARES/Opes Prime Dallara/Honda/Firestone "There is still a lot to learn, but the best learning experience will be the race itself. Our expectations for the weekend are realistic and our goal is to soak up the most experience possible. I also look forward to racing at night because I never have done that before. Racing under the lights seems to make it even more exciting and it creates a completely different atmosphere than day races making it even more interesting."

#36 Enrique Bernoldi Opes Prime Dallara/Honda/Firestone "My goal this weekend will be to simply finish the race in the best position possible and to keep the car intact. It's the best way to gain experience and keep getting better. Racing at night will also be new to me. I thought it would affect our vision but it wasn't too different because the lighting is very good. I look forward to it."

Eric Bachelart, owner Conquest Racing "Following our test we can now quantify better the progress we have to make to be more competitive and run at the front on this type of track. This being said, the test went very smoothly and I am proud of what this whole team and the drivers have achieved in such a short period of time. Enrique and Franck progressed well over both days and did a very good job for never having driven on an oval. But these last two days were only the beginning of what will be a year of learning ovals, the best experience they will get, will be in a race situation starting this weekend. Our goal is to do the best we can and learn as much as possible and to keep improving over the season."

Anthony Blumberg, co-owner Conquest Racing "We made it! It's been a crazy few weeks for everyone on the team getting ready not only for the two tests but to be in Homestead this weekend for the season opener. We had successful tests in Sebring and Homestead that allowed us to gain important knowledge of the Dallara but we are well aware that the learning curve will continue throughout the season. Nevertheless, the team has done an amazing job and is well prepared to take on this new chapter. It should be a very interesting season."

-credit: cr

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Gomez, Gray, Wheldon teleconference, part 2

Next article Homestead: Foyt Racing preview

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance

WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 4 h

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

4 h

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

4 h

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

10 h

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Feature

Discover prime content

Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game

Feature

IndyCar

Feature

IndyCar

By Joey Barnes

Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game

You Ask The Questions: David Malukas

IndyCar

By Joey Barnes

You Ask The Questions: David Malukas

Top 10 Ganassi IndyCar drivers of all time

IndyCar

By John Oreovicz

Top 10 Ganassi IndyCar drivers of all time

Alex Palou still unstoppable as Nashville win edges him closer to fifth IndyCar title

IndyCar

Nashville

By John Oreovicz

Alex Palou still unstoppable as Nashville win edges him closer to fifth IndyCar title

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts