Mathias Lauda will return to the cockpit for A1 Team Austria this weekend for the penultimate round of the 2005/06 A1 Grand Prix of Nations. The tenth round of the series will take place at the Laguna Seca Raceway in California, North America.

At the last round in Mexico, A1 Team Austria added to its championship points tally when Patrick Friesacher scored points in both races. Mathias will be looking to continue the team's improving form after he missed the last race due to testing commitments for his 2006 DTM programme.

Mathias' summer plans were finally confirmed a fortnight ago, coinciding with the Mexican round of A1GP. He will switch from single-seaters to DTM for 2006, competing with Mercedes for its Persson Motorsport team. The DTM season gets underway one week after the A1GP season finale, which will be held at the Shanghai International Circuit in China.

The Laguna Seca Raceway is infamous for its twisty nature, and features and infield section and the awesome Corkscrew turn. It is a 2.602km anti-clockwise track with challenging elevation changes. This weekend will be Mathias' first time out on the Laguna Seca track.

Mathias Lauda: "I'm really looking forward to getting back in the car at Laguna Seca. We have been making steady improvements now for some time and I really want to make sure we score points at all the races left in the series. I'm relaxed knowing what I will be doing after A1 has finished, but right now I am focused on doing the best I can in the remaining two weekends."