FORMULA Renault UK’s Sean McIntosh (Vancouver, Canada) has been selected to represent Canada in what has been billed the “World Cup of motorsport.”

The 20-year-old  driver is one of a dozen Formula Renault graduates to be involved in the A1 Grand Prix series, which will see 25 nationalities competing over 12 rounds, with the opener at Brands Hatch this weekend.

McIntosh, who could still win the Formula Renault UK Championship at next month’s final rounds, has already tried out his new Lola A1GP challenger – a 3.4-litre 520bhp V8 machine. He was on the pace after only a few laps and posted the fastest time in Monday’s afternoon session and second fastest of the day.

“Not everyone was there,” said McIntosh who was only confirmed as the Canadian entrant earlier this week. “But it showed that on the day we were quite quick and considering everything came together at the last minute the car ran perfectly. There’s no real big expectations on me – no one’s saying I’m going to be winning A1GP races straight away so I’ll be flying under the radar to some extent but I believe I’m capable of running at the front.”

McIntosh will line-up alongside entries from the USA, Great Britain, Brazil, Ireland, France, The Netherlands, Portugal, Australia, India and China. Drivers include a mix of F1-veterans, like Jos Verstappen and Pedro Lamy, as well as young single-seater talents like Scott Speed and Nelson Piquet Jr.

McIntosh's Formula Renault UK team manager, Ian Barnwell, says his protégé is ready. “He is a talent on a global scale,” said Barnwell, who first ran McIntosh with Team Firstair last year when he won the Graduate Cup category. “He was the first to win a race outright whilst competing in the Graduate Cup and in my opinion that won’t be repeated. He is young, he can handle a car and the pressure, he’s intelligent and know what he has got to do and can drive around problems. I think his chances are very good – he’s definitely got the right grounding from Formula Renault.”