Being invited to drive in a major international auto race eleven hours before
the race’s scheduled start is not a recipe for success, but that is exactly what
happened when Jan Heylen received the phone call from Eric Bachelart of
Conquest Endurance, who asked Jan to fill in as Conquest’s third driver for the
60th running of the Florida sports car endurance classic. Heylen had been at the
Sebring facility earlier that day, but had returned to his home in the Tampa Bay
area for the weekend, having no idea that he would be returning to the race track
in a matter of hours. “It was pretty crazy; Conquest’s original third driver was
sick, and Eric needed a replacement that he has worked with before, so I was
very lucky that he called me,” Jan said. Heylen was only too happy to return to
Sebring, but first, Bachelart had to convince the American LeMans Series’ race
organizers that Heylen was qualified to race there, since Heylen had no practice
time in the car and he had not driven in the all-important Thursday night practice
session.

Fortunately, the race organizers decided that Jan’s resume showed that he
was no stranger to a high horsepower, high downforce racing car like the LMP2
Morgan he would be driving for Conquest. He was granted approval at around
midnight Friday night, with the stipulation that he drive the morning warm up to
prove that he would not hold anybody up. After grabbing about 2 hours of sleep
at home, Jan and his fiancee Paige left Tampa for Sebring, Paige doing the
driving so that Jan could grab another hour of sleep in the car.

Arriving at the track around 6:00 AM on race day morning, Jan was quickly
fitted to the Conquest Endurance Morgan, and at 8:00 AM, Heylen drove the
car for about 7 laps in the morning warm up, going quickly enough that the race
organizers removed all restrictions and allowed him into the race.

Conquest’s lead driver, England’s Martin Plowman, started the race and drove
the first two hours, leading for a time during pit stops. Plowman then handed
the car off to Conquest’s second driver, David Heinemeier Hansson, and after
another two hours, Heylen was put into the car and sent onto the track.

“The first five or six laps were very uncomfortable for me-the traffic was crazy,
there were cars all over the place! I finally adjusted to everything and settled
down into a good race rhythm”, said Heylen. Jan was scheduled to be on track
for two one-hour stints, however, after picking up a puncture in the right rear tire
three laps before his scheduled fuel-only stop, Jan was forced to pit the car early
and took on a full load of fuel and a fresh set of tires. Due to the puncture, Jan
ended up driving three consecutive stints instead of the scheduled two he was
originally supposed to drive. With the fresh tires and more time in the car, Jan
was able to set the fastest lap of the day for Conquest Endurance.

“Things were going pretty well until we lost third gear towards the end of my third
stint-it happened right after the entrance to the pits, and so I had to bring the car
to a full stop in Turn One. I was flat-towed into the pits, and the team jumped on
the car, changed out the gears, and then, according to the rules, I drove the car
back to pit lane and handed the car over to Martin. We were down many laps by
that stage in the race due to the transmission problem, but we felt that we could
still score some good points towards the championship.”
Heylen completed another stint late in the evening to finish the race for the team
at 10:30 PM, exactly 24 hours after Heylen had received Eric Bachelart’s phone
call. “What a fantastic experience! Finishing third in the ALMS LMP2 class in
my first attempt at Sebring, and having pulled it together at the last minute made
it all the more sweeter. Many thanks to Eric Bachelart for having the confidence
in me to get the job done, he has pulled together an excellent team to work for.
The last time I drove for Eric was in 2007, and we finished on the podium and it
was a great feeling to get back on the podium with the team. I’m confident that
Conquest Endurance has the team, car and drivers to do very well this season!
I also have to give a shout-out to both Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier
Hansson for their tremendous support and encouragement. Martin and David
were both great guys to go to battle with on the track and it was a lot of fun to
work with them. I hope we can work more together in the future. The last time I
was in a car with similar power and downforce was in my last Champ Car race in
2007 so it was great to get behind the wheel of a very quick car again. Sebring
was a great event and I’m very proud of what we accomplished!”