Conquest Racing delivered a determined drive at Road America this past Sunday, securing a third-place finish in the Motul SportsCar Grand Prix—the penultimate sprint round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Notably, the podium result was earned at Manny Franco’s home track, as the Wisconsin native further added to his history of success at the National Park of Speed. 

After starting from sixth on the grid in the #34 Corsa Horizon Ferrari 296 GT3 following a strong qualifying session, Franco had to navigate a caution-filled opening stint, as the race was marred by a series of early incidents. The team remained strategically sharp and opted for a fuel-only pit stop, which saw Franco rejoin the GTD field in eighth while other teams elected to stay out on track. 

He remained undeterred as he navigated multiple restarts, however, an incident involving Franco and another GTD entry briefly dropped him to ninth. Unfazed, Franco regained his composure and reclaimed eighth position before handing over the Ferrari to Daniel Serra with just over an hour and a half remaining in the race. 

As the green flag running resumed on lap 30, Serra was able to capitalize and move up several positions, climbing up to fourth before the next full course caution period. A competitor running in the top three was awarded a penalty, further promoting Conquest Racing into third. From there, the battle for the final podium position intensified, as the Brazilian momentarily dropped to fourth in the closing stages of the race before he went on to reclaim third with three laps to go.

Following this podium performance, Conquest Racing sits sixth in the GTD championship standings with a total of 1,761 points, remaining within close striking distance to the top 5. 

“It feels great to podium at home, especially with friends and family being here,” expressed Manny Franco. “It means a lot to me and I’m sure that means a lot to them as well because they get to see me do what I love. It’s special to see them be so happy for us. Driving wise, I had a couple of small incidents in the beginning of the race during my stint where I got bumped off, but we recovered well and I was able to hand over the car to Daniel so he could continue the fight. Our efforts paid off and we have a podium to show for it.”

“It’s very nice to have scored yet another podium finish this season,” added Daniel Serra. “We gained more important points in the championship standings as well, which is great. We knew we were capable of delivering another strong performance at this place and we were all very motivated to make it happen. It was not an easy race, but we executed well as a team and it shows in the final result.”

“This was a well deserved result,” echoed Team Owner Eric Bachelart. “I’m very happy to be back on the podium after two difficult events. We’re just going to keep pushing and try to finish the season on a good note. A performance like this one is very motivating for everybody on the team.”

Conquest Racing will look to keep the momentum going as they take on VIRginia International Raceway from August 22nd to 24th for the Michelin GT Challenge At VIR, the final sprint race on the 2025 calendar before the championship returns to endurance rounds.