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Tristan Gommendy says he and former Formula 1 team co-owner Didier Calmels will not be "daredevils" about their surprise 2018 Indianapolis 500 project.

Sportscar racer Gommendy will make a shock return to American single-seater racing next May, 11 years after he competed in the final Champ Car season with KV Racing Technology.

He will enter the Indy 500 in a joint effort between the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports IndyCar team and Didier Calmels, who was a partner in the Larrousse F1 team in the late 1980s/early '90s.

"Often Europeans diminish American racing and they think it's watered down European competition, from a technical or competition point of view," said Gommendy.

"These people don't understand that often the Americans are one step ahead.

"The Indy 500, it's not just four left corners. It's a challenge, like a big mountain to climb, it demands a serious and lengthy preparation, and most of all, knowing what you are on about - not discovering the height of the climb in the middle of it!

"IndyCar really is aware of how dangerous the speedways are and they don't want to see daredevils from Europe coming without preparation, thinking that everything is possible."

Gommendy said he made sure he and Calmels were "on the same page" regarding the scale of the challenge ahead before committing to the programme.

Calmels and son Gauthier first approached Gommendy at the Nurburgring World Endurance Championship meeting in July "to talk confidentially about a project".

"They explained the project to me, where they were at, and then he said, 'Would you like to be my driver?'" said Gommendy.

"I admit that there was a moment of blank. I took a few seconds to make sure I wasn't just imagining the situation!

"He told me, 'Think about it, talk to your wife first, and then you give me your decision tomorrow!'

"I rang a few people, but to me my mind was already made up, if there wasn't a big problem.

"This project, if my conditions were met, it was impossible to say no."

Gommendy has already had a session on Honda's IndyCar simulator with engineers from both SPM and Honda, and is likely to test Schmidt's current car on the Homestead oval next month.

He added that SPM is keen for him to also contest the Indianapolis road course race that precedes the Indy 500.

"The starting point is the Indy 500, but I think everyone wants to expand this programme a bit," said Gommendy.