Éric Bachelart (born 28 February 1961) is a former race car driver and Conquest Racing team owner.[1][2]

Éric Bachelart
Nationality Belgian
Born (1961-02-28) 28 February 1961 (age 63)
Brussels
Champ Car career
24 races run over 2 years
Years active1992, 1995
Team(s)Payton/Coyne Racing
Best finish18th (1992)
First race1992 Daikyo Indy Car Grand Prix (Surfers Paradise)
Last race1995 Miller Genuine Draft 200 (Mid-Ohio
Wins Podiums Poles
0 0 0

Racing career

edit

Bachelart started his racing career in Belgium and ended in the United States. He was a star in Belgian Procar, a national touring car championship, driving for Audi and Peugeot.

In 1991, he became the inaugural Indy Lights champion. He then entered a near-full CART season with the tail-enders team of Dale Coyne, simultaneously racing in the Belgian Procar series. His highest CART finish was seventh. He failed to qualify for the 1993 Indianapolis 500. After the 1995 CART season, again only racing when his Belgian Procar schedule allowed it, he ended his single-seater career.

In 1996, he entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race for Belgium in a Ferrari 333SP. He also raced in the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with the Peugeot 806 multi-purpose vehicle). After this season, he concluded his racing career, with the exception of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in 1998 and 2000.

Team ownership

edit

Bachelart founded the Conquest Racing team in 1997, initially running in the Indy Lights championship. The team raced Laurent Rédon in the 2002 Indy Racing League (IRL). The team switched to Champ Car, after Honda and Toyota switched to the IRL. Mario Haberfeld raced for the team in 2003. Future F1 driver Tiago Monteiro raced in a satellite team ran by Conquest Racing for Emerson Fittipaldi.

England's Justin Wilson joined for 2004, ran from mid-season by Nelson Philippe. For 2005, they ran Philippe and Andrew Ranger, one of the youngest teams in the championship's history. Ranger was partnered by Dutchman Charles Zwolsman for 2006. In 2007, Bachelart signed young New Zealander Matt Halliday to his Champ Car entry for four races. Halliday was then replaced by Jan Heylen. The team moved to the IRL as a result of open-wheel unification.

In 2012, Conquest left IndyCar and joined the American Le Mans Series with a Morgan-Nissan LMP2 prototype.

In 2017, Bachelart started entering cars in Ferrari Challenge winning multiple championship with gentleman drivers.

In 2018, Bachelart co-founded Quest Racing to compete at the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

In 2019, Conquest also joins the Imsa Prototype Challenge ( IPC ) and in 2021 ran a Mercedes GT4 winning the last 4 races of the season.

Racing record

edit

Complete International Formula 3000 results

edit

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1988 Spirit/TOM's Racing JER
VAL
PAU
SIL
MNZ
PER
BRH
BIR
BUG
DNQ
ZOL
DNQ
DIJ
NC 0

American Open Wheel

edit

(key)

CART

edit
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
1992 Coyne SRF
22
PHX
13
LBH
8
INDY
32
DET
7
POR
16
MIL
13
NHM
TOR
24
MIS
22
CLE
17
ROA
21
VAN
DNS
MDO
20
NZR
DNQ
LS
23
18th 11 [3]
1993 Coyne SRF
PHX
LBH
INDY
DNQ
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
NHM
ROA
VAN
MDO
NZR
LS
NC 0 [4]
1995 Payton/Coyne MIA
19
SRF
22
PHX
18
LBH
7
NZR
INDY
28
MIL
DET
23
POR
19
ROA
11
TOR
22
CLE
21
MIS
MDO
16
NHM
VAN
LS
23rd 8 [5]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

edit
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1993   Écurie Toison d'Or   Marc Duez
  Philip Verellen
Venturi 500LM GT 267 25th 9th
1996   Racing for Belgium Team Scandia   Marc Goossens
  Eric van der Poele
Ferrari 333 SP WSC 208 DNF DNF

References

edit
  1. ^ Un nouveau châssis, ça coûte cher 2007 "Éric Bachelart, copropriétaire de Conquest Racing, explique à Radio-Canada Sports ce que représente l'arrivée du nouveau châssis Panoz pour son équipe."
  2. ^ IRL: A much closer field for 2009 1-20-2009 by Luc Fradette "Conquest Racing team boss Éric Bachelart is one of those who are optimistic and he truly believes the field will be much closer in 2009, now that teams such as his are fully up to speed."
  3. ^ "Éric Bachelart – 1992 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Éric Bachelart – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Éric Bachelart – 1995 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
edit
Sporting positions
Preceded by Indy Lights Champion
1991
Succeeded by