FMS lines up Pizzonia for Ricard test.

Following the surprising news that Giorgio Pantano was to run with Campos Racing at next week's Paul Ricard GP2 test, FMS International has revealed that another veteran of the former FIA F3000 series would be joining its ranks in France.

The Fisichella Motor Sport operation has confirmed that it will test former F1 and Champ Car driver Antonio Pizzonia at the first of the series' winter tests, but did not divulge whether the Brazilian is a candidate for a seat next season. Pantano's run with Campos is expected to be little more than an aid to the midfield team as it sets about testing hopefuls for next season, but it may be that Pizzonia has decided that his best route back to Formula One lies via GP2, after an abortive attempt to resurrect his career in Champ Cars this year.

The Brazilian will be testing alongside current FMS driver Jason Tahinci during the two-day test, and would not be the first former grand prix driver to drop back to the feeder series, as both Pantano and Gianmaria Bruni opted for a second crack at making the big time by trying to impress in front of F1 bosses. Ironically, both appear destined to continue their careers in America, with Bruni already announcing that he will not return to GP2 and being among the interested parties at last weekend's Road America Champ Car round.

Pizzonia won races for the Super Nova-run Petrobras Junior team in F3000, before being snapped up as a test and development driver by Williams. He failed to land a regular race seat after a lacklustre half-season with Jaguar Racing in 2003, returning to his previous role with Williams. Several stand-in roles for the injured Ralf Schumacher and Nick Heidfeld followed over the next two seasons but, having been passed over in favour of Nico Rosberg this year, Pizzonia decided to try his luck with Rocketsports in Champ Cars, only for a lack of sponsorship to limit his efforts to two outings.