Chennai, Mar 24 (IANS): Tamil film actor Ajith Kumar became the latest Indian entrant to international Formula racing as he Wednesday announced his participation in the Formula 2 series this year.

Ajith, who turns 39 on May 1, was an active two-wheeler racer before switching to films. Since then, he has been an infrequent visitor to the racing track and participated in the last round of the MRF Challenge series in February, but was far from competitive.

He had earlier taken part in Formula BMW Asia in 2003 and the British F3 (Scholarship Class) in 2004 when he scored two podium finishes.

Ajith follows the likes of Parthiva Sureshwaren and Armaan Ebrahim both of whom have already signed up for Formula 2 series.

His forays into single-seater racing have been more to do with his undeniable passion for the sport than any realistic chance of winning, but he believes that his participation would provide Indian motor sport a bigger profile due to the fan following he enjoys.

"I have the confidence of achieving some success in this year's FIA Formula 2 European Championships. I have already done some testing in Malaysia recently and am looking forward to more practice runs in Snetterton and Silverstone before the event kicks off on April 16.

"I hope my participation along with the other two Indians, Armaaan Ebrahim and Parthiva Sureshwaran will create the right amount of interest in the sport in India," said Ajith in a press release.

F2 Series Director Jonathan Palmer said: "I am delighted to welcome Ajith to F2. To have a well known Indian film star who has demonstrated such ambition now racing in F2 is very exciting for the championship, and I really admire Ajith's determination and enthusiasm.

Ajith has hired the services of Eurasia Motorsport Management run by Piers Hunnisett to handle all his international motor racing activities and manage his racing career.