Conquest Racing delivered a commanding performance in the fourth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, claiming a hard-fought third-place finish in the Monterey SportsCar Championship sprint race at Laguna Seca. Manny Franco and Daniel Serra turned in a standout drive in the #34 Corsa Horizon Ferrari 296 GT3, securing a well-earned podium and underlining their status as top contenders.

After a good qualifying effort, Manny Franco took the green flag from seventh on the grid and made an immediate impact, gaining multiple positions in the opening minutes of the two hour and forty minute event. After settling into fifth, a brief battle saw Franco drop to sixth before regaining the position and handing the car over to teammate Daniel Serra.

As the Brazilian driver took over the reins of the machine, Serra wasted no time asserting himself in the highly competitive field. It did not take long before Serra executed a brilliant pass for fourth with 1 hour and 15 minutes remaining. He continued to push forward, climbing into the top 3 before completing another pit stop with just over an hour left on the clock.

Rejoining in fourth, Serra remained firmly in the hunt. He maintained strong pace and impressive consistency, steadily reducing the margin to the third-place competitor. In the closing minutes, with less than two laps to go, Serra closed a half-second gap to the #32 Mercedes in front of him, making a decisive and crucial pass to secure the final podium position just before the checkered flag waved.

“It’s fantastic to be on the podium,” exclaimed Manny Franco. “After facing some setbacks in the previous round at Long Beach, I’m very glad we turned it around with a top 3 result. It’s great that we were able to have such a strong performance and finish on the podium, and set the tone for what’s to come in the next races.” 

“It’s very nice to have achieved our first podium of the season,” added Daniel Serra. “It was a challenging race. We had a fast car but it was difficult to manage the loss of downforce when following others in the field, so I had to put up a big fight to come out ahead, but we pulled it off together. I’m extremely happy with this result!”

“I’m very proud of the team today,” echoed Team Owner Eric Bachelart. “We needed this result, I think it was very important for our team’s confidence. We are back where we want to be, and from here we can continue to build on this strong momentum. I’m looking forward to Watkins Glen. We finished on the podium there last year, and we’ll be trying to do that again and have a good second half of the season.” 

Next up, the team heads to Watkins Glen for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on June 22nd, 2025.