Brazilian contingent heads home for Mil Milhas.

IRL IndyCar Series front-runners Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan will be two of the star attractions in Brazil's most high profile endurance event this weekend as they take part in the 50th Anniversary Mil Milhas event at Interlagos on Saturday.

Double Indy 500 winner Castroneves will join triple Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet, his son Nelson Piquet Jr. and Frenchman Christophe Bouchut in a Cirtek Motorsport entered Aston Martin DBR9 in the 1,000-mile endurance race around the Brazilian Grand Prix venue.

"This will be my first race in a touring car, so I'm really looking forward to it," Castroneves said. "The Mil Milhas is a very famous race in Brazil, and I consider myself fortunate to have the chance to compete in an event with such a great history. For me this is such a wonderful opportunity - it will be an entirely new experience and I can't wait to get behind the wheel.

"I'm also honoured to be able to share the car with a legend like Nelson Piquet, as well as Nelson Piquet Jr. and Christophe Bouchut. I think we'll be very competitive."

Kanaan, who won the pole for last year's Mil Milhas, also will drive a Cirtek prepped Aston Martin DBR9, with Raul Boesel, Aston Martin factory driver Pedro Lamy and Alcides Diniz, uncle of former F1 driver Pedro Diniz.

Two other IRL IndyCar Series regulars, Vitor Meira and Felipe Giaffone will team to drive a Riley & Scott based modified ZF prototype built by Giaffone's family.