Bryan Herta steps in for Kanaan

Herta was originally in the frame for the Mo Nunn drive when the team was founded last November. The 30 year old American was then due to start the 2000 CART season with Forsythe in a Swift, but after a poor showing in pre-season testing the team was disbanded, leaving him unemployed. Herta then stepped in at Walker Racing in place of Shinji Nakano earlier this year at Motegi.

"We are very fortunate that Bryan is available," said co-owner Morris Nunn. "He was one of our original choices to drive for this team when we were first formulating our plans late last year. We are very enthused about the progress we've been making with our Mercedes-Benz programme and there are some developments we plan to make in the next few races. I'm confident Bryan is the right guy to help keep up the momentum."

Herta has worked with Nunn before during a spell at Ganassi in 1995. "I'm really looking for my second time around with Morris," said Herta. "We showed some flashes of brilliance the first time around. This is our chance to follow through on some of the things we started.

"The circumstances around this opportunity are unfortunate. I wish Tony the speediest recovery possible. It's probably the best possible part of the schedule for me to step in and pinch-hit. Portland and Cleveland are two of my favourite tracks. I'll have my hands full learning the Mercedes-Reynard package and working with new people, so knowing the tracks gives me one less thing to worry about."

Herta's appointment bring the number of American drivers in the CART series to three, while Kanaan's absence drops the Brazilian contingent to eight.