Former Formula 1 driver Antonio Pizzonia will continue in Auto GP for the season finale at Sonoma this weekend after his double victory on his debut at Curitiba.
The 32-year-old Brazilian triumphed in both his home Auto GP races as he made a guest appearance for the Ombra team. He has now completed a deal to switch to Zele Racing for the American event.
Pizzonia drove for Jaguar and Williams in F1 between 2003 and '05, and subsequently raced in Champ Car. His current focus is on Brazil's V8 touring car series.
Zele is returning to Auto GP for the series' U.S. debut event at Sonoma Raceway this weekend, having skipped the Curitiba meeting. Alongside Pizzonia, it will field reigning Italian Formula 3 champion Sergio Campana, who has already raced in Auto GP with Euronova and MLR 71 this year, winning in Marrakech.
The Auto GP field for the California double-header will also be bolstered by the presence of former IndyCar racer Pippa Mann, who will drive one of the spec Lola-Zytek cars fielded by Campos Racing.
The open-wheel Auto GP series is the co-headliner this weekend at Sonoma with FIA World Touring Cars. It will be the first U.S. race for either series.
Auto GP features spec Lola chassis powered by 550hp, 3.4-liter V8 Zytek engines. Each race weekend features doubleheader races, with the grid for the second race on Sunday set by the finishing order of the first, with the top eight positions reversed. The Sunday race runs between the two WTCC races.