Conquest Set for IMSA Return in Ferrari GTD Entry for Franco

Photo: Conquest Racing

Conquest Racing has submitted a full-season entry request into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class for 2024, with plans to field a Ferrari 296 GT3 featuring Manny Franco.

Franco’s full-season co-driver will be announced at a later date.

The Indianapolis-based team, which has previous IMSA experience from the American Le Mans Series LMP2 ranks, currently fields Franco in both Ferrari Challenge North America and Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.

“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 team owner Eric Bachelart.

“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.”

Franco currently drives in Fanatec GT with two-time IMSA GTD champion Alessandro Balzan.

“I’m extremely proud and excited for this next chapter with Conquest Racing for the upcoming 2024 IMSA season,” said 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 has also laid out plans for a continued presence in Fanatec GT next year “once all the race calendar schedules have been finalized” according to a team statement.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John