Felipe Massa will host some of his Formula 1 'mates' for the 'Desafio Internacional das Estrelas' (International Stars Challenge), a karting race the Ferrari ace is promoting for the second successive year, this time on December 16/17 at the Kartodromo Internacional dos Ingleses, in Florianopolis, 700 km south off São Paulo.

A strong 25 drivers field, among them Rubens Barrichello, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Robert Doornbos, Tiago Monteiro, Nelson Piquet Jr., Ricardo Zonta, Antonio Pizzonia, Jean Alesi, Antonio Pizzonia, Xandinho Negrão, Lucas di Grassi and Tony Kanaan, will attend the event. Eurospost will show the action for Europe.

According to the rules, the one make race for chassis (Birel), engine (Parila) and tyres (Bridgestone) will be run in a double-header format, both with a length of 25 minutes. The second, however, will follow the same GP2 Series system, the top eight finishers starting from reversed grid positions. To make sure that everyone will be given the same chance, all karts will be picked out by lot. "I believe this is the fairest thing to do", explained Massa, who has just won the Brazilian Golden Helmet prize, presented by Racing magazine on Monday night.

After spending two weeks in Brazil, Massa returned to Europe on Sunday in order to resume his testing duties for Ferrari in Barcelona. Massa will also compete in the Granja Viana 500 on December 2/3, lining up in the 10th edition of the endurance challenge alongside local drivers Ruben Carrapatoso, João Paulo Bertuccelli and Rafael Daniel. Massa and Bertuccelli won the inaugural race back in 1997. Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan, Felipe Giaffone and Dan Wheldon squad, however, remain once more the ones to be beaten. With six victories so far, Barrichello and Kanaan are the major winners ever of the event.

The provisional entry list for the 'Desafio Internacional das Estrelas'

Felipe Massa

Rubens Barrichello

Vitantonio Liuzzi

Robert Doornbos

Tiago Monteiro

Nelson Piquet Jr.

Ricardo Zonta

Antonio Pizzonia

Enrique Bernoldi

Jean Alesi

Tony Kanaan