Villeneuve close to Stefan GP deal, says team owner

Posted at 12:00am on 19 February 2010

MILAN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Former world champion Jacques Villeneuve is close to signing a contract with Formula One hopefuls Stefan GP, team boss Zoran Stefanovic said on Friday.

The Serbian outfit does not have a 2010 entry but is hoping to race this year given that new teams Campos and U.S. F1 have yet to test their cars or complete their driver lineups ahead of the first grand prix of the season in Bahrain on March 14.

"We are very near to a contract with Jacques Villeneuve, and probably also with another driver as our reserve driver. But the first one which will be with us is Kazuki Nakajima," Stefanovic told autosport.com.

Canadian Villeneuve, 38, won the Formula One title in 1997 with Williams and most recently raced in NASCAR having last competed in F1 for Sauber in 2006.

Japan's Nakajima is a Toyota-backed driver who raced with Williams for two full seasons before being dropped at the end of last year.

Stefan GP have agreed a technical assistance deal with Toyota, who quit Formula One last year but had already designed their 2010 car.

The team is run out of Toyota's Cologne factory in Germany, where the new car was first fired up on Friday ahead of a planned test in Portugal later this month. A tyre supply deal has yet to be signed.

Asked whether Campos and U.S. F1 would start the season, Stefanovic said:"We are expecting it to be clarified relatively shortly because all of us know what the situation is."

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