New Brundle/Blundell team

The British duo, who were teamed together in F1 at Brabham in 1991, and again at Ligier in 1993, have long held an ambition to share a car together at Le Mans - an event that they have taken victories and pole positions separately in.

"It's come together because me and Martin have always wanted to drive together over the course of our careers," said Blundell. "We have shared teams and such in Formula 1, but we have never really shared a car. We have always wanted to go to Le Mans and compete in the same car and that's something that we are working on now."

There is no official line on what car the team will operate, but Blundell has made it clear that the Prodrive-build DBR-9, which was given a roll-out at Millbrook last week, is being given serious consideration: "There are a couple of scenarios and they have both got very credible names.

"Obviously the funding issue has got to be addressed, but the plan is to work very hard and try and make everything happen to be a part of the Aston Martin programme. But that's just our hope of course, and it has to be confirmed yet. Prodrive are building the cars and running the development next year. But we are talking about from 2006 onwards, when our programme comes on full stream."

Brundle, who last competed at Le Mans in 2001 with Bentley, is keen to get back in a racing car. "Mark and I share a burning desire to race again," he said. "I have never hung up my boots, but have simply been too busy these past three years to get my adrenaline fix at the wheel. We both still have plenty to offer on the track, and with the right car and the right sponsors, together with David Price, we can build a great team and television programme around this project."

Blundell also admits that Le Mans is unfinished business for him after finishing runner-up for Bentley after losing out to the sister car in 2003: "There is an element of wanting to go back and win again. We both know what it is like to be standing on top of the rostrum and we both know what it is like to be at the head of the grid.

"We have set ourselves a challenge that we are going to revel in. We want to go back racing, we want to go back with a great name, we want to put a great team together and we want to go and fly the flag. We want to roll down the pitlane at Le Mans with the biggest smile and the biggest Union Jack attached. That's how we are looking at this project."

Both drivers will have an involvement in the running of team, although essentially Price will act as the team's principal. "David Price will be involved day-to-day because he knows how to run an operation," said Blundell. "He has had a huge amount of success, he has won Le Mans in his own right in that capacity. We will part of the team for sure and we will have a sensible amount of involvement, probably more on the commercial side."

As for the team name... well there is no word as to whether Murray Walker has been consulted. "We can't decide whether to it Brundell Racing or not," said Blundell. "But seriously, it's something that because of the commercial aspect of what we are looking it won't be decided for some period of time, but in the scheme of things it is not the most important aspect."