Scotland's Dario Franchitti seeks his third season title in four years with New Zealand teammate Scott Dixon among his top rivals as the IndyCar season opens Sunday in Brazil.

The series starts its 15th campaign with the Sao Paulo Indy 300, a 75-lap event over a 2.6-mile, 11-turn street layout. The new race is one of two outside North America, the other being the Indy Japan 300 on September 18.

The Japan event is the penultimate stop on a 17-race schedule that features the Indianapolis 500 on May 30 and concludes October 2 at Miami.

Ganassi Racing drivers Franchitti and Dixon and their rivals at Penske Racing, Australian Ryan Briscoe and Brazilian Helio Castroneves, won 16 of last year's 17 events and are poised to dominate again.

Franchitti edged Dixon for the 2007 IndyCar crown, made an ill-fated move to US stock cars in 2008 while Dixon took the title, then returned to IndyCar with another title run last year with Dixon settling for second once again.

Castroneves, who captured his third Indianapolis 500 last year, and Briscoe will be joined by another Australian, Will Power, in the Penske 2010 lineup.

Michael Andretti's race team, which went winless last year, has regrouped with the former racer now the sole boss of a team that includes US racers Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick and Ryan Hunter-Reay and Brazil's Tony Kanaan.

Five women are set to compete at some stage in the IndyCar campaign, including Patrick, fellow American Sarah Fisher, Venezuela's Milka Duno and newcomers Ana Beatriz of Brazil and Simona de Silvestro of Switzerland.

Four Englishmen are also in the IndyCar lineup, including Dan Wheldon, Mike Conway, Justin Wilson and Jay Howard.

Other drivers set for the IndyCar season include Japan's Takuma Sato and Hedeki Mutoh, Brazilians Vitor Meira, Rafael Matos and Mario Romancini, Canada's Alex Tagliani and Venezuela's E.J. Viso.