IndyCar drivers welcome the chance to beat an F1 driver

To a man, the IndyCar paddock is ecstatic about Rubens Barrichello coming to IndyCar. They not only welcome the publicity, which will trounce anything Danica Patrick did for the series, they welcome the opportunity to beat him week in and week out on the race track in a spec chassis to prove once and for all that F1 drivers are not better.

"I think it would be great to have Rubens in the series," said Team Penske's Will Power, who finished as runner-up in the 2011 championship. "I think all of the drivers feel the same."

"Rubens coming into the series would be all positive," was reigning champion Dario Franchitti's view, who has known Barrichello since they competed together in junior world karting in 1987. "He'd be great for the series. He brings that international recognition as well … He ups the level of competition in the field yet again."

The final pieces of the puzzle surrounding Rubens Barrichello's move to the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series seem to have been falling into place over the last 48 hours, with the latest news being a report in the Brazilian press about Barrichello's likely financial backers for the switch.

According to one of the country's biggest newspapers, the Estado de S. Paulo, Barrichello will be sponsored at KV Racing Technology by heavy construction equipment rental company Brasil Maquinas to a reported amount of nearly $3m.

The company is said to have previously been negotiating with the Williams F1 team over the winter and had been willing to pay an even greater amount to keep Barrichello in his Grand Prix seat, until the team finally decided to go with Bruno Senna instead. Brasil Maquinas already sponsor a local stock car team.

If the reports are correct, then lining up the sponsorship backing is the last major obstacle that needed to be overcome in the process of formally signing Barrichello to a year in US open wheel racing.