Conquest Racing’s Nelson Philippe (#34 Juniper Soul / Opes Prime / Cosworth / DP01 / Bridgestone) qualified in 14^th position during Friday’s provisional session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.

Nelson complained of overall lack of grip and an unbalanced car. Nelson completed fewer laps than anyone today due to a chain of circumstances that started with a spin in this morning’s practice session. Nelson had to switch to manual mode on the gearbox software in order to select the correct gear for the jump start after the spin. Unfortunately the gearbox stayed in the manual mode after the jump start and while entering the pit he selected reverse instead of first.

The Conquest Crew did a great job fixing the problem and getting the car out with five minutes remaining in the session.  During today’s qualifying session Nelson and the team spent most of their time catching up due to only completing 9 laps compared to the 25 laps others did this morning.

The fewer laps combined with the lack of a teammate’s data to compare himself to relegated Nelson’s Conquest car #34 into a disappointing 14^th position. Nelson and everyone at Conquest will be looking to improve his starting position for Sunday’s Gran Premio Tecate of Mexico City during tomorrow’s second and final qualifying session. 

Nelson Philippe Quote
“I’m absolutely disappointed with my session today,” said Nelson. “I’m struggling a lot for grip and seem to be drifting around the corners a lot. We will be working very hard tonight because I’m not too happy being two seconds off of the pace when I feel we could be doing better.” 

Eric Bachelart Quote
“We came here with high expectations and we are not happy with our provisional qualifying position. We had very little track time this morning and it hurt when qualifying came. However, I am confident we will make good progress overnight and be there when it counts.”