De Ferran eager to make ALMS debut

The 41-year-old, who won two Champ Car titles and was runner-up in the IRL in his last season of open-wheel racing in 2003, started his own sportscar team, De Ferran Motorsport, earlier this year and will debut their Acura ARX-01b this weekend.

He admits that both he and teammate Simon Pagenaud are lacking in endurance racing experience, but is positive about the challenge.

"My impression is that sportscar races are becoming long sprint events, rather than races where you have to nurse the car," he said. "In many ways they're becoming like very long open-wheel races.

"The key difference I've observed is the traffic, which you have to deal with because there are four different classes on track at the same time. This is an area in which Simon and I are short on experience."

De Ferran has spent the last four months setting up the team, and is pleased to be able to focus on driving again.

"Getting the team set up has taken a huge amount of my time, but now I'm starting to concentrate on becoming a racing driver again. I've been working very hard on my fitness, both physical and mental, to prepare myself for getting back behind the wheel."

The Brazilian also believes he has signed a very promising teammate in 23-year-old Frenchman, 2006 Champ Car Atlantic champion, Pagenaud.

"Simon has a very good reputation in the industry, that was the first thing that attracted me to him. It goes beyond his on-track results, which have been very impressive, It's about the overall package. My old friends at Walker Racing spoke very highly of him.

"For de Ferran Motorsports it's important to have some young talent on board. I'm looking forward to getting back behind the wheel myself, but I won't be driving forever."