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American LeMans
ALMS: Conquest Making Progress On LMP2 Effort
Team principal Eric Bachelart tells SPEED.com that driver lineup expected to be finalized this week...
John Dagys  |  Posted February 08, 2012   Sebring, FL
Conquest Endurance team principal Eric Bachelart is on the brink of finalizing the driver lineup for his Morgan-Judd effort in LMP2. (Photo: LAT)
Despite being absent from this week’s Sebring Winter Test, Conquest Racing’s expansion into the American Le Mans Series is still going ahead as planned, with its new Morgan-Judd LMP2 car expected to make its debut at next month’s 60th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Speaking to SPEED.com Wednesday at Sebring International Raceway, team principal Eric Bachelart said he expects the driver lineup for the ALMS season-opener to be finalized by the end of this week.

"Hopefully in the next few days we'll have some confirmation,” Bachelart said. “I'd say we're pretty close with what we're doing, but we're not totally there yet. The car was a bit delayed but it's almost built now, so we should be doing some testing in France, if the weather is OK and then send the car to Sebring.”

Bachelart said he expects the cost-capped Oak-Pescarolo prototype, now badged as a Morgan, to be shipped to the U.S. on March 1, with the team taking part in the full week of testing and practice ahead of the race.

While Conquest Endurance still plans a full-season effort, Bachelart admitted the car could see a switch to a different powerplant for the remainder of the year. Time constraints has limited its option to Judd only for Sebring, according to the veteran IndyCar team owner.

"We have to see about the competition," Bachelart said. "Obviously [Level 5] has a good game. It's the first year but we want to show the potential of the new Morgan LMP2. Hopefully we'll make the car competitive and go from there. This is all new to us, so I want to be humble about it."

In other LMP2 news, Level 5 team owner Scott Tucker confirmed Wednesday that he’s sold one of his two Lola B11/80 Honda coupes to Black Swan Racing, which announced its entry into the prototype ranks late last year.

Between Level 5’s pair of new HPD ARX-03b’s and the two prototype newcomers, the LMP2 grid is set to have no fewer than four full-time entries, with two additional teams likely to join mid-year.

John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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