Mercedes F1 test driver Sam Bird has inked a deal that will see him join the Starworks team for the upcoming United SportsCar Champions🌳hip season.

The Briton, who finished 🏅as runner-up in the GP2 series in 2013 with the new Russian Time outfit, has agreed a deal that will see him compete with the team in the three endure events on the 🎉calendar at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans.

It will mark the first move into sportscars for the 26-year-old,▨ who will become the se๊cond driver with links to the Mercedes team to compete with Starworks.

Brendon Hartl🐭ey, who was a test driver with Mercede𓂃s in 2012 having previously held a similar role with Red Bull and Toro Rosso, drove for the team during the 2013 season.

"We follow the GP2 series and Formula 1 young driver tests and I was stunned to learn Sam's available and was looking to North America for new opportunities," team boss Peter Baron told RACER. "We've been fairly successful 𒀰in bringing open-wheel dr♊ivers into sports car racing and tapping into that talent.

"I'm looking forward to working with a driver like Sam who brings a lot of experience with him from some big teams and can c✨ontribute heavily to our programme. We'll have more to announce on which car he'll be driving and our full line-up soon."