Legge lands PKV drive

The move will be confirmed tonight at a dinner in California for Champ Car Atlantic - where, last year, Legge became the first female to win an international single-seater race in North America.

The 25-year-old Briton put in impressive performances when testing for the team at Sebring last December, and she was last month called back to drive alongside Franck Montagny, who was also trying out for the team.

Legge will become the first female to race in the series since Lyn St James entered the Indy 500 in the mid-1990s.

Legge told autosport.com that her main target will be to just learn about Champ Cars, and go for the Rookie of the Year title in her maiden season.

"It is too much to think I'd be competitive enough to win the championship in my first year," Legge said. "But I'm sure I'll pick up many fans in the series, like Danica Patrick did in the IRL.

"There will be so much for me to learn. I've never done pitstops and I've never had to think about fuel strategies, so I'm under no illusions about how difficult this is going to be.

"There are some good tracks, and Milwaukee is going to be unlike anything I've ever done before and could be down right scary. I know the first track at Long Beach, having won there in Atlantics, but there are some I don't know - such as Mexico City and South Korea.

"But I have got a good team around me and with [team co-owner] Jimmy Vasser helping I will have a good run at it."

Legge believes that the pace she showed in her two-day test at Sebring before Christmas helped her convince the team members that she was worthy of the drive.

"When I heard I've got the deal, it was absolutely amazing news," she added. "At first I was excited, and then I realised the enormity of it all and that it would be a big challenge.

"I'm think I convinced the team on my two-day test in December. I don't think they knew who I was yet, but they became much more serious about me after the test.

"I think the team are serious about me now. We ran very well at the test and were very fast."