Conquest Racing with Ferrari is delighted to announce their plans for the upcoming 2024 calendar year, as the team confirms their full-season entry in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with American racing driver Manny Franco fielding a Ferrari 296 GT3 in the GTD class. The remaining driver lineup will be announced at a later date. 

Franco currently competes with Conquest Racing in both the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli and GT World Challenge America championships, and 2024 will see them reach for new heights. He began his racing career with the team in Ferrari Challenge at the tail end of the 2021 season, followed by a few races in the GT4 class in SRO. Franco also competed in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge before eventually switching over to SRO with a Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020, with notable results including a second-place finish at Sebring International Raceway in his first time racing at the track. 

Conquest Racing’s commitment to participate in the championship will also mark their first full-season return with the IMSA organization in over a decade, as the team previously competed in the full season of the American Le Mans Series in 2012 in the LMP2 class. 

“This is a big step for us and it reflects our growing commitment with Ferrari and Manny’s ongoing development as a racing driver,” said Eric Bachelart, Team Owner. “We have been working with Manny since his racing debut back in 2021 and I am very proud of the way he has evolved as a driver in such a short period of time. This program also represents the ultimate upper echelon of our Ferrari ladder system as we’ve progressed from our Ferrari Club Challenge and Ferrari Challenge participation, to now even larger implications. We could not be happier to be joining the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship and to be a part of the success of the series.”

“I’m extremely proud and excited for this next chapter with Conquest Racing for the upcoming 2024 IMSA season,” added Manny Franco. “I have learned a great deal over the past few years with the team from racing in a variety of different series and championships, and I’m greatly looking forward to what lies ahead for us as we prepare for this challenge. To be driving the Ferrari 296 GT3 at this level of competition is a big opportunity, and one that we are ready for.”

Conquest Racing hopes to announce its renewed involvement with SRO in the GT World Challenge America championship once all the race calendar schedules have been finalized and released.