While Formula 1 remains on its unexpected April break following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, Lance Stroll is set for a different challenge this weekend in France.

The Aston Martin F1 driver will compete in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard, driving for Comtoyou Racing in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO. He will share the car with Roberto Merhi and Mari Boya.

A total of 58 GT3 cars are entered for the season opener, including 17 in the top PRO category reserved for fully professional line-ups. It will also be a first GT3 appearance for Boya, adding another interesting element to the team’s challenge.

Stroll explained that the idea for the programme came together quickly during the last Formula 1 round in Japan.

“The decision came when we were in Suzuka. On Saturday evening, we had dinner with some friends, and we were talking about what we could do during this break, about a month, because some races were cancelled. Jean-Michel (Baert, Comtoyou team owner) was very accommodating, and we organised everything in about a week,” Stroll said, as quoted by Crash.net.

Before confirming the plan, Stroll also spoke with Max Verstappen, who has become increasingly active in GT racing.

“We talked about who to contact, and since he’s already involved in GT racing, we discussed it a bit. Everyone enjoys driving GT3 cars,” the F1 driver concluded.

Despite his lack of experience in the category, Stroll said the chance to fight for victory was one of the reasons he wanted to race this weekend.

The live stream begins at 17:30 CET, with the six-hour race starting at 18:00 CET.