Chennai: India´s top Formula racing driver Armaan Ebrahim has received an invitation from Bryan Herta Autosport, one of the leading teams in the North American Firestone Indy Lights championship, for a test drive on September 14 at Indianapolis as a prelude to his participation in the 2012 series.

This is the first time ever that an Indian racer has received an invite from the Indy Lights Championship which is a feeder series for the iconic and high–profile Indy Racing League (IRL), the American equivalent of Formula One.

Team owner Bryan Herta, the 1993 Indy Lights Champion, believes that the 22–year old Armaan, sponsored by JK Tyre and Trimex, will make a seamless transition to the IRL programme.

Herta commented: "We are very excited with the possibility of Armaan being with us and racing for us. We have been tracking his career for some time now and are very optimistic that he will fit in well with us and with Indy and most importantly, do extremely well."

"We have fixed the test with Armaan for the September 13/14 and will be spending a few days with him and his team in order to see if we can all come to a firm agreement on all aspects for 2012 and 2013."

Herta had raced alongside Armaan in the 2005 A1 GP series when the Indian set a World record of being the youngest at 16 to represent his country in an international series.

Founded in 2009, the Bryan Herta Autosport team, whose drivers finished in top 10 in the past two Indy Lights seasons, created a sensation earlier this year when team driver Dan Wheldon won the Centenary edition of the famous Indy 500 race.

Armaan, who is currently focusing on his forthcoming F2 race in Austria with an intention of adding more points to his tally is excited with the Indy test invite since the 14–round Indy Lights offers prize–money up to the 20th place finisher while the winner of the Championship is eligible for fully paid drive in the IRL the following year.

Armaan said: "I am looking forward to the test in the Indy Lights Car in September and to have long and meaningful discussions with the team and the Elevation Group to see how my future career can pan out."

The Elevation Group, a specialist motorsport sponsorship and driver management firm, has also evinced keen interest in managing Armaan´s racing career, working closely with FairPlay Management Pvt. Ltd, as their Indian counterparts.

"Though there are offers to race in the IRL straight away, I may opt to do the Indy Lights first and then move on to the IRL as racing in America is quite different to what we have been used to in Europe. I prefer to take one step at a time.

"Obviously my dream is to drive a Formula 1 car. However, I would rather be in a team that offers an opportunity to win races than be in Formula 1 for the sake of it."

"Thus, it is important that I continue in the right direction and that is financially viable for me. The intention is to have a successful career which is most important and finally get the opportunity of winning races in the IRL and in Formula 1" said Armaan.

Akbar Ebrahim of Meco Motorsports Pvt Ltd who manage Armaan, said: "It is a great opportunity for Armaan. There is a lot of interest among sponsors at this stage since if Armaan goes ahead with racing in the Indy Lights he will be the most high profile Indian athlete competing across all sporting disciplines in North America."