Mansell to drive Champcar at Rockingham.

Double world champion Nigel Mansell will return to the driving seat of a Champcar at the opening ceremony of Rockingham Motor Speedway later this month.

The new British oval, located in Corby and set to host the UK's first FedEx Championship Series event on 22 September, will open its doors to the public on Saturday 26 May, with Mansell turning some laps at the wheel of a Champcar as part of the festivities.

Rockingham features an all-seater stadium and a banked 1.5mile oval circuit, which will be officially opened by the still popular driver as part of the opening event for the venue. Mansell is set to drive a Champcar for the first time since winning the CART championship in 1993. This title came just a year after winning the Formula One world championship for Williams in 1992, making him the only driver in history to win motor racing's two premier titles back-to-back.

"I'm really looking forward to getting back in a car, although it's the first time in a long time that I have driven a single seater," Mansell said, "It will be the first Champcar since my win in '93. The track looks awesome and it should be good for over 180mph - although I'm not going to try and do it at full speed!"

The FedEx Championship Series will debut in Europe this year, with a race on 15 September at the new EuroSpeedway Lausitz, a 2mile oval superspeedway situated near Dresden in Germany. The race teams will then move on to England for the Rockingham event the following week.