GTD Testing Takes Center Stage Tuesday in Sebring

There wasn’t any trophy or prize money on the line in IMSA-sanctioned testing at Sebring International Raceway on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop Jan Heylen from making the most of his time in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.

The Belgian topped the time charts with a best lap of 2 minutes, 1.737 seconds (110.598 mph) to top a field of 20 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) and GTD PRO class cars in the first day of three total days of on-track testing on Sebring’s venerable 3.74-mile circuit.

Heylen and Jaden Conwright – the inaugural recipient of the IMSA Diverse Driver Development Scholarship in 2022 – were brought in last minute to share the No. 34 Ferrari with the team’s full-season drivers – Manny Franco and Daniel Serra – unavailable for this test. Heylen’s relationship with Conquest Racing and team owner Eric Bachelart dates back to 2007, when he drove for the team in the Champ Car World Series.

“This was a little bit of a last-minute call,” Heylen said. “Eric’s other drivers are out racing on the other side of the globe, so he called me. We’ve got a relationship that goes long back, and I’m just super happy to be here.”

The strong performance on Tuesday was a bright spot for Heylen, who is dealing with the loss of his home in the Tampa Bay area to Hurricane Milton last fall.

“Myself and my family, we had a rough few months here with losing the house and all of that in the storm, and then being pregnant with twins, so I kind of lost the opportunity to be in this paddock,” Heylen said. “That hurts. It hurts not being on the grid, but I’m really grateful to be here and we obviously had a good day.”

It was a very good day for Heylen, who posted the quickest time in each of the day’s two testing sessions.

“The car was running good,” he said. “I think we made some good progress throughout the day and hopefully set the team up for success in a few weeks.”

Heylen and Conwright are just in the car for this test, with Franco, Serra and the team’s to-be-confirmed third driver slated to return for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring next month. Cedric Sbirrazzuoli and Giacomo Altoe filled out the team’s lineup in last month’s season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona where they finished 11th in the GTD class.

Maxi Goetz posted the second-fastest time of the day at 2:02.059 (110.307 mph) in the No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG GT3, followed by Scott Andrews in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 at 2:02.098 (110.271 mph) as GTD cars held down the top seven positions on the combined time chart.

Aaron Telitz was quickest of the GTD PRO runners, clocking a best time of 2:02.829 (109.615 mph) in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3.

Testing resumes Wednesday with all four WeatherTech Championship classes on track for three sessions – including one under the cover of darkness to close out the day’s activities. The Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) classes will have the track to themselves on Thursday.