De Ferran team eyes IndyCar entry

Former Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran, who set up his team last year to run a factory Acura in the American Le Mans Series, told this week's AUTOSPORT magazine that he has aspirations to extend his organisation beyond sportscar racing in the future.

"We are investigating growing into IndyCars," said de Ferran. "It would make sense, because having two programmes would bring economies of scale. It would also help us grow as a team in every respect.

"We are having a serious look at it, but we would only do it if it makes sense for us and we could put a strong team together."

De Ferran said he did not want to put a timescale on his team's IndyCar aspirations because he "doesn't like speculation". But he wouldn't rule out making the move in time for this year's Indy 500, saying "never say never".

Although he has returned to the cockpit in the ALMS, de Ferran confirmed that he would definitely not be part of the driver line-up if his team did enter the IndyCar Series.

"I am not looking to drive an Indycar again," he said.

De Ferran took the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car titles then switched to IndyCar, where he won the 2003 Indy 500 before retiring from driving. After a period working for the Honda Formula 1 team, he began his comeback as an ALMS owner/driver last season.