Rubens Barrichello will test an IndyCar next week for KV Racing. It’s not clear if the test will bring the Brazilian Formula One driver to IndyCar for 2012.
Barrichello is scheduled to be at Sebring International Raceway driving a Dallara DW12 for KV Racing, a person familiar with the test told AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the 2-day test session is exploratory for both Barrichello and the race team.
Fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan, a close friend of Barrichello’s who drives for KV Racing, posted Wednesday night on Twitter that Barrichello would be testing.
“As we couldn’t keep a secret anymore,” Kanaan wrote, indicating in the post Barrichello would be helping the team with feedback.
Next week’s test could be a feeler to see if Barrichello has any interest in possibly racing in IndyCar in 2012, or if he can offer any technical assistance to KV, which has partnered with Chevrolet this season.
Barrichello has spent the last 19 seasons in Formula One, but was replaced last week at Williams by Bruno Senna. He has no seat lined up in F1 for the 2012 season.
“I won’t be driving the Williams car this year,” he posted last week on his Twitter page. “I wish my friend (Senna) all the best. The future is wide open.”
A few days later, he responded to well-wishers again via Twitter, indicating he planned to race a bit longer.
“when I said that things were open is because I still have lot’s of speed on me,” he posted. “just like an old friend said: racing is in my blood.”
Barrichello is an 11-time winner in F1. He has 68 podium finishes, but none last season. The Brazilian notched a pair of ninth-place finishes last season, and ended the year with only four points.
Barrichello has scored the eighth highest points total in Formula One history, spent five years as teammate to Michael Schumacher at Ferrari and was championship runner-up twice, in 2002 and 2004. He became the first driver to reach 300 Grand Prix entries and 300 starts in 2010, and served as chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association.
He’s been quoted in the past as saying his wife would not let him race in the IndyCar Series, and it’s not clear if Barrichello was serious. Drivers from around the world have expressed concern about the compatibility of the IndyCar and high-banked oval tracks, and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed in the Oct. 16 season finale at Las Vegas.
The IndyCar Series presently has only four ovals on its announced 2012 schedule.
Barrichello is close with Kanaan, who drove last season for KV and is scheduled to return to the team in 2012.
KV Racing fielded three entries last season, for Kanaan, Takumo Sato and EJ Viso. Kanaan finished a team-best fifth in the final IndyCar standings.
