Verstappen Lands Netherlands Seat

The 33-year-old will make his track debut for the team at A1 Grand Prix's first official test session at Silverstone next week.

Verstappen has been out of racing since he drove with Minardi in Formula One in 2003. He will drive in all 12 rounds of the World Cup of Motorsport beginning with the inaugural event on September 25.

"It's very unusual having to defend your country," Verstappen said. "The fact that next week I will climb into a bright orange car not to represent a team or a sponsor, but an entire population does make this very special. I find it an honour that I will be able to do this."

It was announced last November that former Grand Prix driver and Le Mans 24-Hours winner Jan Lammers had acquired the rights to run the Dutch entry.

"We wanted to put together a team we could be proud of as a country and the icing on the cake is having Jos drive for us," Lammers said.

"He is without doubt the most popular driver from the Netherlands and his results speak for themselves. I am sure the thousands of fans who have followed his career closely will now be waving our country's flag in this innovative new series."

With the Verstappen deal the grid for the first A1 GP series is starting to take shape.

BMW Williams test driver Antonio Pizzonia is set to drive the Brazilian entry, while Robbie Kerr and Alex Lloyd will share the British entry. Pakistan's driver, Nur B Ali, was the first to be announced.