With six weeks to go before the first round of the inaugural A1 Grand Prix series, we hear that a further five teams (countries) are about to be named as having signed up, bringing the total number of teams to 24.

At the weekend, Pitpass editor Chris Balfe, visited the A1 GP facility at Silverstone where work is progressing on the cars ahead of the two-and-a-half-day test scheduled to take place at Paul Ricard from 24 August.

Australians will be delighted to know that their car is now proudly wearing its colours, having appeared in its basic carbon-fibre black at the recent Silverstone test. The Swiss car is also wearing its livery.

Following the recent two-day test at Silverstone, confidence within the A1 GP team is running high, the competitive times - which saw nine countries covered by less than a second - together with the sight of the first fifteen cars, proving the remaining sceptics wrong.

However, the real acid test will be at Paul Ricard, when all the teams will run, just one month before the season kicks off.

There are a number of interesting rumours doing the rounds regarding drivers, however, one deal that appears to be cut and dried is that Tony Kanaan will be Brazil's main representative, with Nelson Piquet Junior also due to make a number of appearances.