Matech Racing has announced the signing of Thomas Biagi for the opening two rounds of the 2009 FIA GT Championship season.

The experienced Italian will line-up alongside Matech regular Thomas Mutsch for the events at Silverstone and Adria as the team debuts its new Ford GT, created for the new GT1 regulations that will come into force for the 2010 campaign.

The Ford will be one of three cars running to the new rules in the field this season, with Marc VDS Racing also fielding a Ford and Gigawave Motorsport running the new Nissan GT-R in selected events during the year.

“I'm truly delighted to be involved in this project,” Biagi said. “One of the things I really appreciate in motorsport is the on-going development of the cars. The Ford GT1 Matech meets the 201O regulations, and I'm fully aware that this is not to our advantage this coming season. However on the other hand I'm certain that my experience can be put to good use to help the team, go forward and prepare the future.

“Since 1993 I have fully committed myself for the various teams I have been involved with, and I reckon that my integration into the Matech GT Racing organisation is an excellent thing. I will be getting to know the car at Silverstone during the initial training sessions. But I'm quite sure that with Thomas Mutsch we will produce some pretty satisfying results.”

The deal with Biagi could be extended beyond the first two rounds of the year.