Doornbos close to Champ Car drive

The Dutchman is hoping to combine his third driver duties for the Red Bull F1 team with a race seat elsewhere, and he is confident that he will have a deal signed soon.

"I am going to race in the States for sure," Doornbos told autosport.com. "There are two teams which I am close to signing to, although I have to be quick because there are only four days left of proper testing."

Doornbos tested with Minardi Team USA last week at Sebring, but he could still land a drive with Forsythe after he tested for the team before Christmas.

"I tested with Forsythe which went really well," he said. "But with a teammate like Paul Tracy you have to watch out that it doesn't become a wrestling match!

"But he has experience and the team are proven winners. Let's wait and see.

"I just need to work out the best choice. One team has a very good engineer, and the other team is a proven combination."

Doornbos believes that it will be worth all of the travel back and forth to be able to have his first full-time race seat since his Formula 3000 campaign in 2004.

He has started a handful of races in Formula One since then, but he has been unable to land a regular drive so far.

"It is going to be a busy year for me collecting air miles, but what I was looking for was another year like 2004 when you can actually fight for a championship," he said.