Jordan's Tobacco-free F1 Reality Tv

The Jordan formula one team is behind a reality television show that will give a novice driver the chance to compete in a grand prix - and provide the company with sufficient exposure to compensate for the demise of cigarette sponsorship.

An amateur driving enthusiast will be trained up and placed in the cockpit of a Jordan formula one car as part of an ambitious Pop Idol-style project which the team hopes will help reignite interest in the sport.

A Jordan spokeswoman, speaking from Indianapolis, where the team is preparing for the American grand prix, said the proposal was still in its early stages but had been approved and had the full blessing of formula one boss Bernie Ecclestone.

"Eddie Jordan [owner of the Jordan formula one team] has been quite involved with Bernie Ecclestone in looking at ways of promoting formula one.

"We've been in discussions for quite some time and hope to make it happen next year," she said.

The project involves the team giving one of its two driver positions to an untested individual chosen through a televised talent search. It is not clear yet whether insurance will be available in the event of a crash or injury to any of the contestants.

All formula one team owners are searching for ways to broaden the sport's appeal and replace revenue that will be lost when tobacco promotion - such as that from Jordan's main sponsor, Benson & Hedges - is banned from next year.

Judges will whittle down contenders to a shortlist before viewers vote for their favourite driver and follow their progress via a TV show, website and mobile updates.

British broadcast rights are not yet finalised, but a Jordan spokeswoman said there would be no rights issues if a broadcaster other than ITV, which screens the races, were to transmit the show.

The winning driver will be trained for three years, with the cameras following them every step of the way, before becoming a formula one contestant in time for the beginning of the 2007 season.

The concept has been devised by Jordan and SlaterHerd, a sports marketing company formed by the former magazine publisher, Victoria Herd, and previous formula one team owner Robin Herd, and is expected to appear on television screens in the UK next year.

Mr Ecclestone's plan to attract formula one fans with a premium subscription television service was not a success, with the British version of the interactive pay-per-view service on BSkyB attracting only 25,000 viewers and forcing him to scrap the service last November.