Jan Heylen is disappointed with his replacement

Jan Heylen was replaced by Nelson Philippe for the last two races of the season in ChampCar. The Conquest Racing team explained their decision for financial reasons.

Indeed, Heylen, a native Belgian, is primarily sponsored by the same promoter as the Belgian F1 GP. Unfortunately for Heylen, he did not honor his agreement with Conquest and was unable to transfer Heylen’s sponsor money to the American team. Immediately, another sponsor approached the team, but with one condition. If this sponsor invests in Conquest, it’s with Nelson Philippe and no one else. So, this is indeed a financial replacement.

Heylen admitted to “being disappointed and frustrated” with this situation after good results.

« I am simply disappointed not to be able to continue with the team as we were starting to show the progress made since the beginning of 2007… »

« My sponsor, Grafiprint did everything to keep my chances in the matter and Eric [owner of Conquest Racing] did everything he could to not disappoint… »

He also ironically warned the new French driver about his chances in the last two races:

« If Nelson drives poorly, I suppose he will give it back to me well! But seriously, I wouldn’t want the team to suffer. Nelson is a good driver and I know how strong the car is now. So he should be able to finish in the top five! »