Conquest Racing showcased strong pace and determination this weekend at their home race, the Battle on the Bricks, securing a hard-fought third place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team fielded the #34 Corsa Horizon Ferrari 296 GT3 with drivers Manny Franco, Daniel Serra, and British racer Ben Tuck for the penultimate round of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. 

Franco delivered a superb qualifying performance on Saturday, placing the Ferrari fifth on the starting grid. On race day, he took the green flag and executed a commanding opening stint, quickly moving through the field from fifth to third in the opening laps, eventually slotting into second place before handing over the machine to Tuck.

Tuck carried the momentum forward, taking control of the GTD lead during his stint and remaining at the top of the leaderboard for the majority of his time behind the wheel. He completed a pit stop for new tires and fuel, returning on track in third place. As the halfway mark approached, he regained another position up to second, before eventually reclaiming the lead shortly thereafter. 

The team’s charge was disrupted in the closing hours when Serra took over the car. A radio failure left the Brazilian competitor without communication to the pit wall, but he nevertheless maintained a ten-second advantage at the front of the field. However, a poorly timed full-course caution forced the team to perform an emergency pit stop for fuel, costing Serra positions in the field. Despite the setback, he fought back valiantly in the final half-hour to secure a third-place finish.

“I had a good start and took two spots,” said Franco. “The rest of my stint was pretty good. I was pacing myself and keeping us inside the top five. The strategy worked out well, and I was happy with my drive. I think we had the potential this time around, and hopefully at Petit Le Mans we can go for the win again, just like last year.”

“That was a really fun race,” Tuck commented. “I’ve been to Indianapolis once before, but this was my first experience at this track in IMSA. I managed to lead for most of my stint, which was incredible, and Daniel was also leading when he came out. Unfortunately, a full-course yellow came at the worst time, as we were coming in for energy. We were forced to do an emergency pit stop, which dropped us down. Daniel did an amazing job on the restart to bring us back to third. We deserved to win, but I’m proud of the effort the team put in.”

“It was a very difficult race,” explained Serra. “I had no radio, so we had zero communication and I didn’t know what was going on. Then we were unlucky with the full-course yellow, it came out right when I needed to pit. We went from the lead to fourth or fifth, and without radio, I didn’t even know we were restarting, so I lost more positions. In the end, I was able to overtake the BMW to finish on the podium. It’s good, but bittersweet, because we had the pace to win today.”

Team owner Eric Bachelart praised the effort: “I am very pleased with the pace we showed today. The drivers performed well, and the engineers gave them a strong car. Unfortunately, the radio issues made the last part of the race very difficult, but even with those challenges we secured a podium at our home race. The team did an excellent job in the pits, and overall it was a strong effort from everyone involved.”

Conquest Racing now turns its attention to the season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the Motul Petit Le Mans, where the team will be aiming to finish the season on a high note and return to the top step of the podium.