IndyCar veteran Tagliani to race Zakspeed Mercedes in Blancpain GT

The 2011 Indianapolis 500 pole winner will race a Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the German Zakspeed team in the Endurance Cup element of the BGTS.

Tagliani will share the car with ex-Aston Martin Racing driver Darryl O'Young and Jean-Frederick Laberge, the 2012 Canadian Porsche Cup champion, in an all-Canadian line-up.

Tagliani told Autosport: "I'm really looking forward to racing in Europe on some great tracks and I am also very excited about driving the car.

"These cars have a lot of technology and quite a lot of downforce, which means that an open-wheeler guy like me won't be totally out to lunch when he gets in."

Tagliani, who is expecting to dovetail the BGTS campaign with a return to the Indy 500 and a NASCAR programme, also revealed his aspirations to race at the Le Mans 24 Hours.

"Every racing driver wants to do Le Mans, but when you are not a recognised sportscar driver, it is difficult to get in," he explained.

Tagliani's previous GT experience is limited to a handful of starts in a Ford Mustang and one in a Ferrari, while he has also competed in a Daytona Prototype and a Prototype Challenge one-make racer in North America.

The deal put together by Laberge marks a full-scale return to international sportscars for Zakspeed after an absence dating back to a campaign in the 2009 FIA GT3 European Championship with a Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.

Zakspeed, whose near-50 year history includes a stint in Formula 1 in 1985-89, was re-inaugurated for a 2014 ADAC GT Masters campaign and then won last year's title with Luca Ludwig and Sebastien Asch.