Grapevine: Piquet joins Massa's kart event

Piquet's participation in the event will mark the first time he has raced against, or even met, some of his former F1 rivals since the controversy about his involvement in the Singapore Grand Prix race fix saga erupted earlier this year.

Piquet has set his sights on victory in the International Challenge of the Stars kart race in Florianapolis, having finished eighth overall - and right behind Michael Schumacher - in the SKUSA Supernats kart event in Las Vegas last weekend.

"I have never had so much fun as racing in Las Vegas and I was really pleased finishing eighth against the best karters in the world," said the Brazilian.

"Now I'm happy that I can be back in Brazil to do Felipe's race this weekend. It's going to be very competitive as usual, there are some great drivers confirmed and I want to try to win it this year."

This year's race is the fifth International Challenge, and will mark Massa's own return to competitive action for the first time since his crash in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Other drivers who are taking part in the event including Michael Schumacher, Rubens Barrichello, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Giancarlo Fisichella, Antonio Pizzonia, Tony Kanaan and Christian Fittipaldi.

Massa has secured sponsorship from Spanish banking giant Santander for the event - and will be supported by it the following weekend at the Granja Viana 500 mile race in Cotia near Sao Paulo.