Fernando Alonso missing the Monaco Grand Prix to make his debut in the Indianapolis 500 is the biggest thing to happen to single-seater racing in America since Nigel Mansell switched to what was then called the CART Indycar World Series as the reigning Formula 1 world champion in 1993.
There are parts of the Alonso story that are even more remarkable than Mansell's - Mansell opted for the US as a way out of F1 when his relationship broke down with Williams, while Alonso is an active grand prix driver taking the staggering step of missing the season's most high-profile race for his first attempt at the jewel in the IndyCar crown.
Mansell's move to Newman/Haas catapulted an already-thriving CART series into the mainstream, but what can Alonso do for its equivalent more than two decades later?
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