Rubens Barrichello will test an IndyCar next week for KV Racing, The Associated Press has learned.
The Formula One driver is scheduled to be at Sebring International Raceway next Monday and Tuesday, a source requesting anonymity said Wednesday, adding the two-day test session is exploratory for both Barrichello and the race team.
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 two 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. He’s close friends with fellow Brazilian Tony 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.
Next week’s test could be a test 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.
