Le Mans winner gets Zele ride

The 29-year-old Englishman, who took victory at La Sarthe with Team Bentley in June this year, sealed a one-off deal with Zele Racing to race at Valencia in Spain. It will mark Smith's first single-seater race since the end of 1999 when he raced in Indy Lights.

"I was talking to the team about doing a test, but then an opportunity to do this race came up," he said. "It was too good to turn down. I don't know Valencia and it's a case of in at the deep end, but I want to race."

Smith is targeting a drive in Champ Cars for 2004, although he has not turned his back on sportscar racing.

"I love racing sportscars, but I've been lucky enough to win Le Mans at a young age and I have other goals to pursue," he said.

The team, which missed the last round at Barcelona, was due to give Smith a brief shakedown test at Albacete in Spain ahead of this weekend's races.