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Verstappen set for US tests

Jos Verstappen has set his sights on a switch to the Champ Car World Series for 2005, and is lining up tests with a number of teams

The 32-year-old Dutch driver sat out 2004 after a projected Formula 1 deal with Jordan fell through. Having spent most of his F1 career in midfield machinery, he believes a switch to Champ Car will allow him to compete for victories again.

"I want to be in a car that enables me to show how good I am," he said. "I want to be able to overtake, I want to fight for positions, I want to be running for podium places.

"This is what I expect to find in America. First of all I will be talking to the teams, then I will go testing and a decision will be made only after that."

Verstappen is in discussions with Rocketsports, Forsythe, Conquest Racing and Emerson Fittipaldi - the latter hoping to resurrect his dormant team for the 2005 season. Although Verstappen's F1 career started with a highly competitive Benetton seat in 1994, subsequent years with Simtek, Arrows, Tyrrell, Stewart and Minardi invariably saw the popular Dutchman struggling to score points.

"In F1 you depend too much on the equipment and the political games," said Verstappen. "Driving the car is awesome, but I found the driver only plays a minor role when it comes down to performance."

Recent drivers to swap F1 for Champ Cars include Verstappen's sometime team-mates Mika Salo and Justin Wilson. Although Salo's tenure with PK Racing was brief, Wilson established himself as a Champ Car frontrunner last season and is eyeing race victories with RuSport in 2005.

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