Hot on the heels of central European neighbor Bulgaria's attempts to win a round of the world championship, it has emerged that Romania has launched a project for a world-class racing circuit.

According to the French language Le 10 Sport, the project was launched this week in the Romanian capital Bucharest, and was said to boast the involvement of 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve in the area of the circuit layout.

"It is a project for the creation of a permanent circuit with multiple uses for the purpose of tourism and international competitions, and in the long term the ability to organize formula one," said Jacques Samalens, owner of the company Ramses Project Romania.

The French language Canadian source RDS said Villeneuve cancelled his attendance at the launch at the last minute, but may also be involved financially.

It is said that three possible sites for the track have been identified between 25 and 70km from Bucharest.