Dominguez claims Jordan deal

The Mexican completed one installation lap with Jordan at Silverstone last week, with the test being curtailed because of poor weather, and has since returned to the United States to continue his preparations for a season in Champ Car racing with the HVM team.

Although Jordan had not been expected to be in any rush to finalise its 2006 line-up, having only just agreed on Narain Karthikeyan and Tiago Monteiro for 2005, Dominguez has claimed that he is well on his way to landing a seat for next year.

"To clear the record, yes, I have signed a letter of intent to drive for the Midland Jordan team in 2006," Dominguez was quoted as saying by the autoracing1.com web-site.

"It is not vital that I bring money to get the ride, because the team and the series knows that if I am in the series there will be great interest in F1 from Mexican sponsors. However, with a lot of other drivers bringing money I am competing against them. I will do whatever I have to do get the sponsors I need.

"I was offered a deal to be the third/Friday driver for 2005 and it did not require that I bring any money. However, that would have been a full-time commitment to travel to all the races and do testing. I had to turn it down because I have a contract with HVM in Champ Car for 2005, a good contract that pays me well and I intend to honour it."

Dominguez's manager Henri Luzet declined to confirm or deny the news when contacted by autosport.com, although re-iterated his viewpoint that the pair were targeting a future switch to F1.