Hartley to join Euro Series race

The New Zealander, who is currently fifth in the British standings with three wins, will contest the Nurburgring races with RC Motorsport, who are one of two teams in the Euro Series using Volkswagen engines.

The deal is believed to have come about through Red Bull, who back Hartley and have close links with VW.

RC have struggled to deliver front running results so far this season and parted company with regular driver Maxi Gotz before the last round at Zandvoort. Hartley is hoping to help the team move forward.

"I think they've been struggling a little bit this season, they want to understand why and I'm happy to do what I can to help," he said. "I'm looking forward to the weekend, although looking at the previous results it will probably be quite difficult.

"But I tested the car at Vallelunga and it felt good. We'll get enough testing at Nurburgring to try to sort it out the best we can. I've also been to the RC workshop and the team are working hard and it looks impressive. So we've all got to put the previous results out of our minds and go for it."

When asked whether he would complete the remainder of the season with RC, now that there are no more clashes between the British and European championships, Hartley said: "I've no idea, this is just a one-off race at the minute. But if I can get a good result this weekend, obviously it looks positive for me."