DeltaWing confirms Marino Franchitti as its first driver for its 2012 Le Mans attack

Le Mans organising body the ACO revealed the full entry list for the race on Thursday, with Franchitti named as the first driver for the radical machine.

"I am so excited about getting the opportunity to drive the car," said the Scot, who retains his relationship with Highcroft Racing from the past two years. "I am really looking forward to finding out how it is going to feel and how it will work as a package.

"I have nothing to compare this against. Like the car itself, I will be going in with a clean sheet of paper and will start exploring the limits."

The 33-year-old added he was excited by the prospect of racing an innovative machine.

"It is not something that has been done before and it kind of feels like when the first rear-engined F1 car hit the track," he said. "Or the first car with a wing, of the first ground effect car.

"In recent times, we really haven't seen major advances like this. The DeltaWing will be so new and unique and I am really honoured to be given this opportunity.

"Technological steps have been quite small and now it is very exciting to be a part of something this huge."

DeltaWing revealed earlier this week that its car is set for a first full-scale windtunnel test at the Windshear facility early this month, with a track test set to follow "soon after".