Conquest Racing Signs Harald Schlegelmilch

Conquest Racing today announced that it had signed Latvian Harald Schlegelmilch to an Atlantic ride for the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents the Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season opening race at Sebring International Raceway on March 20. The Conquest Atlantic team will also take part in the Series’ two-day open test which gets underway tomorrow at Palm Beach International Raceway.

“We’ve had a lot of success in the Atlantic Championship in the past and we look to build on that success with Harald at Sebring next week," stated Eric Bachelart. “We’re anxious to get out on track with him at the test this week. He has good experience in open-wheel cars in Europe and I think he will be competitive aboard our Atlantic car. We have a history of introducing drivers to North American racing and we’re happy to welcome Harald to our team."

Schlegelmilch previously drove in the Formula Masters series in Europe, where he scored a couple of podium finishes including one win in his rookie season.

“Coming to race in the Atlantic Championship was very appealing because of the prize package but also because it is a competitive series. It was an easy decision to make," explained Schlegelmilch. “I think it will be easy to adapt to the car thanks to my previous experience in Europe and I can’t wait to take it out on track tomorrow. I’m happy to be joining a professional team like Conquest Racing and I want to thank Eric Bachelart for giving me this opportunity. I’m sure we will do a good job."

Earlier in his young career, the driver who hails from Riga, Latvia competed in Scandinavian Formula Renault 2000 and the Lista Formula Masters in 2004. He was crowned Rookie of the year in both series and won the championship in the Lista Formula Masters on the strength of seven wins. He then went on to Germany to race in the Formula BMW Championship in 2005 and finished third in the German F3 series in 2006. In 2007, Schlegelmilch won a race in the Formula 3 Euro Series before moving to the GP2 Asia Series in 2008. www.conquestracing.com.