Minardi confirms Baumgartner - as reserve.

Minardi Team USA has confirmed rumours that Zsolt Baumgartner is the first driver officially signed by the team for the 2007 Champ Car World Series season - although the Hungarian will not be filling one of the vacant race seats with the former CTE-HVM outfit.

The 26-year-old, who raced for Minardi in the 2004 Formula One World Championship, will take on the role of official test and reserve driver for the upcoming campaign and will appear at most of the race weekends over the course of the season.

Baumgartner will get his first taste of the new Panoz DP01 chassis during testing at Laguna Seca this weekend, where he will be joined on track by Robert Doornbos, who is widely tipped to secure a race seat with the team alongside his Red Bull Racing F1 duties.

"I'm very happy to continue my relationship with Paul Stoddart and Minardi, by taking on this new role as test and reserve driver for Minardi Team USA," Baumgartner said. "I'm looking forward both to experiencing the new Panoz DP01 Champ Car for the first time, here at Laguna Seca, and to learning more about the North American racing scene during the course of the 2007 season. I'm sure it will be an interesting and exciting year, and I'm really looking forward to it."

Minardi Team USA co-owner, Paul Stoddart said he was delighted to have Baumgartner on board for the teams maiden Champ Car campaign and said he believes that the Hungarian will be a valuable addition to the Minardi line-up.

"Aside from being an excellent race and test driver, Zsolt has been one of the real stalwarts of the Minardi two-seater programme, and it therefore makes perfect sense to involve him in our North American plans as official test and reserve driver for the Champ Car team," he said. "He's a great ambassador for us, and we're very pleased to have him along at the start of Minardi Team USA's Champ Car adventure.

"I'm sure he will make a strong contribution to all our programs this season."