Conquest Racing Baltimore race report

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA FINISHES THIRTEENTH AT BALTIMORE

Sebastian Saavedra, Conquest Racing

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Baltimore, Maryland – September 4 2011 – For the second weekend in a row Conquest Racing’s Sebastian Saavedra had a strong run in his #34 Bogota Es Mundial machine as the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series goes into the final stretch of the season. The Colombian driver picked up eleven positions today at the Inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix finishing 13th after starting in the 24th position.

It was an impressive event in downtown Baltimore in which the teams and drivers had the chance to put on a great show in front of a sold out crowd. For Saavedra, a smart fuel saving strategy and staying out of trouble in the tricky 2.4-mile, 12-turn temporary street circuit proved to be the recipe for his strong result. He started the race with the primary Firestone tires and stretched his stint until Lap 24 when he made his first pit stop and changed over to the alternate rubber. The turning point of the day came on a Lap 43 during a caution when the team decided to bring Saavedra in for his second pit stop, while most of the leaders opted to stay out and pit later in order to be able to have enough fuel to make it to the end of the 75-lap race. For the strategy to work, the 21-year-old driver would have to achieve very high fuel mileage while maintaining a quick pace and holding position. As expected, during the last stretch of the race the leaders started pealing into the pits and Saavedra kept picking up positions in the process. His fuel saving efforts paid off and he took the checkered flag in the 13th position.

There will be little time to rest for the Conquest Racing team this week as they will have to prepare to make the trip across the world for the next round of the IZOD IndyCar Series in Motegi, Japan. The Final Indy Japan 300 will be broadcasted LIVE on September 17 2011 through VERSUS at 11:00 PM ET.

Sebastian Saavedra Driver

34 Bogota Es Mundial/Conquest Racing/Honda/Dallara/Firestone
“It was an amazing race for the team. I am very happy that we got important points in the championship and that we are getting closer on the guys in front. It was the most physical and mental race of the calendar and we kept clean all the way through. The great strategy from my engineer, Mike Pawlowski, put us on a fuel saving game, which worked perfectly all the way till the last corner! I'm very thankful for my guys and for the good job they they’ve been doing. We need to keep the good momentum we've built for the last races in the championship”

Eric Bachelart, Conquest Racing Team Owner.
“It was good race for the team, we managed to stay out of trouble and kept our nose clean and came out with a good result. During the race we knew that we had to go off strategy to pick up positions, we decided to come in during a yellow even though it was going to be very tight to make it to the end. But with a bit of luck on the yellows and by saving fuel we made it and finished the race on a strong note. Great job by the crew and Sebastian today.”