Exclusive: Hill to test on Thursday

The 1996 world champion will take part in the two extra Thursday free practice sessions with the rest of the GP Masters field, ahead of the Silverstone race on Sunday.

Hill, who is president of the British Racing Drivers Club, which owns the Northamptonshire track, has been in talks with the GP Masters organisers over the last two weeks about joining the series, which includes fellow former Formula One world champions Nigel Mansell and Emerson Fittipaldi.

However, organisers are keen to stress that Hill has not yet committed to racing this weekend, in the third GP Masters meeting since the series' inception.

GP Masters spokesman Nav Sidhu told autosport.com: "As part of our ongoing discussions with Damon to join GPM, I can today confirm that Damon will test the GP Masters race car this Thursday at Silverstone.

"At this stage, the exercise is purely one of familiarisation for Damon. We have scheduled a couple of hours of testing for all drivers this Thursday afternoon, ahead of this weekend's Grand Prix Masters of Great Britain."

It will be the first time Hill will have driven a single-seater in anger since he tested a GP2 car at Paul Ricard last June.

There have been few opportunities to test the GP Masters car outside of race weekends, and so Hill testing on Thursday should not necessarily been seen as him evaluating the series for a race drive as soon as this weekend.

However, the fact that Hill is getting in the car at Silverstone, a circuit he has so many physical and emotional ties with, bodes well for the series, and that Hill could make a quick race debut.

The GP Masters of Great Britain begins proper on Friday with official free practice, before qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday.