Dan Wheldon will defend his 2005 Indianapolis 500 title from a different address with an Indy-winning pedigree - Target Chip Ganassi Racing after announcing a new deal with the IRL team on Monday. This announcement means that any deal between the British racer and the BMW Sauber F1 team for a drive in the 2006 F1 championship won’t come to pass after all.

Both Wheldon and Dixon will compete in Target-sponsored Dallara/HondalFirestone cars in 2006, a change from the PanoziToyotdFirestone package the team has used in recent seasons. Dixon will stay in the No. 9 car, while Wheldon will drive the No. 10 machine.

“Throughout my career, I’ve always looked favourably at Chip’s team and the things they’ve been able to accomplish in motor racing,” Wheldon said. “I’m obviously very excited about joining Target Chip Ganassi Racing and having the opportunity to team up with another IndyCar Series champion in Scott Dixon.”

Wheldon, 27, from Emberton, England, became the first Englishman to win the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” the Indy 500, since Graham

Hill in 1966 by clinching victory at the 89’h Indianapolis 500 last May. It was one of his series-record six victories in 2005.

“For me, it’s a new chapter,” Wheldon said. “I’m not coming here to run second. I want to win more races, more championships and more Indy 500s. This team has a great history; it wins the big races. And that’s what I love to do. I’d like to win the Indy 500 and another championship in the same year with a different team. Now that would be asking a lot.”

Honda and Target Chip Ganassi Racing, partners for four consecutive championship-winning seasons in the late 1990s, also renewed their association for a supply of Honda Indy V-8 engines in the 2006 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series.