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ROC at Wembley

Fast Facts about The Race of Champions 2007 at Wembley

Wembley Stadium, London: December 16, 2007
Fast Facts about The Race of Champions 2007 at Wembley

  • The Race of Champions-Nations Cup is a unique, spectacular competition which opposes motor sport champions and superstars from across the world. The 20th anniversary edition will be held at the new Wembley Stadium which will re-open in 2007.
  • This traditional end-of-season showdown attracts spectators from across Europe. For three years the event, held at the Stade de France in Paris, has attracted well over 50.000 spectators each year.
  • Action from the 2005 Race of Champions-Nations Cup broadcast in 204 countries and watched by more than 164 million viewers.

What?

The new Wembley Stadium, which will open in 2007, will be transformed into an exciting, challenging parallel racetrack (see infographic) for the Race of Champions – Nations Cup.

  • The Race of Champions:

    Eighteen stars from the worlds of Formula 1, Rally, NASCAR, Champ Car, Le Mans, Touring Cars, Dakar Rally-Raids, X-Games, etc compete in a knockout tournament driving identical cars in one-to-one heats. The winner of the Super Final will be declared the 2007 Champion of Champions.

  • The Race of Champions-Nations Cup:

    National teams of two drivers (England, Scotland, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Finland, USA, Spain, etc.) compete to decide which is the fastest motor sport nation on the planet.
    Each race opposes two drivers in identical cars in a knockout competition format.

When?

Sunday December 16, 2007. Ticket information will be published shortly on wembleystadium.com and raceofchampions.com

Where?

Wembley Stadium, London, England.
The celebrated stadium guarantees a spectacular, panoramic view of the entire track from all seats.
Construction of the track calls for approximately 1,800 tonnes of asphalt, 2,200 tonnes of underlay and the erection of a 100-tonne cross-over bridge. It takes a team of 30 people five days to build and three days to dismantle.
The specially-designed track layout guarantees an impression of speed and power for drivers and spectators alike, plus plenty of side-by-side racing!

Who?

The Race of Champions – Nations Cup attracts a unique, thrilling line-up of motor sport superstars from all the world's leading international race and rally championships.
The exact line-up of drivers for the 2007 event will be confirmed closer to the date. For reference, the eighteen participants in The 2006 ROC-Nations Cup at the Stade de Frace in Paris were F1 Stars, David Coulthard (Scotland) and Heikki Kovalainen (Finland), World Rally Champions Sébastien Loeb (France), Nascar Champion Jimmie Johnson (USA), Marcus Grönholm (Finland) and Colin McRae (Scotland), multiple X-Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana (USA), seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen (Denmark), the three-time ChampCar Champion Sébastien Bourdais (France), the multiple Andros Trophy winner Yvan Muller (France), DTM Champion Bernd Schneider (Germany), WTCC Champion Andy Priaulx (England) and BTCC Champion James Thompson (replacing injured Jenson Button), former Dakar winners Stéphane Peterhansel (France) and Nani Roma (Spain), the 2005 JWRC Champion Dani Sordo (Spain), former European Rally Champion Armin Schwarz (Germany) and circuit/rally all-rounder Mattias Ekström (Sweden).
Again for reference, the cars raced in The 2006 ROC-Nations Cup included the Citroën Xsara WRC, the Porsche 911 GT3, Renault Mégane Trophy Prototype, the ROC-Car buggies and the Aston Martin V8, all specially-prepared for the occasion.

Background:

The Race of Champions is a truly gladiatorial event that pitches the world’s best circuit racers and rally drivers head-to-head against each other round a spectacular parallel track to determine who is the fastest. Racing doesn’t get any more dramatic than this and, in 2007, the event will take place to the equally exciting backdrop of the new state-of-the-art Wembley Stadium.
Created in 1988 by Fredrik Johnsson, President of IMP, and the world’s greatest lady rally driver Michèle Mouton, The Race of Champions was originally conceived as the ultimate shoot-out between the top international rally stars. Over the years it has also proved immensely popular with the biggest stars from all the major motor sport disciplines, including F1, World Rally, NASCAR, Le Mans, Indy500, Champ Car, DTM, WTCC, etc.

roc track
Race of Champions-Nations Cup Stade de France, Paris

Wembley's ROC track
High Resolution of Wembley infographique in our
picture gallery

Editors’ Notes

Copyright-free hi-res photos are available to download at www.raceofchampions.com or by calling Andy Bothwell or Paul Rayner at Performance PR on +44 (0)208 5413434. Alternatively you can E-mail andyb@performancepr.com or paul@performancepr.com.

The Race of Champions was started in 1988 by Fredrik Johnsson and Michèle Mouton, the world’s most successful female rally driver.

The Race Of Champions event on December 14 will be made up of two separate competitions – The ROC Nations Cup and The Race of Champions.

Each competition pits drivers against each other in a head-to-head knockout format, with equal equipment ensuring races are won and lost on talent alone.

The ROC Nations Cup features drivers paired into teams based on their nationality. The teams then fight head-to-head against each other in knockout competition. Last year Team Germany (Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel) beat Team Finland (Marcus Grönholm and Heikki Kovalainen) in the final.

The Race Of Champions is a straightforward knockout competition, where 16 drivers go head-to-head until the champion is decided. In last year’s Final, Mattias Ekström beat Michael Schumacher in the third race of a best-of-three battle.

Already confirmed for The Race of Champions 2008 are:

  • Seven-times F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher (Team Germany)
  • Triple World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx (Team Autosport Great Britain)
  • Honda Racing F1 Team race winner Jenson Button (Team Autosport Great Britain)
  • Toro Rosso F1 racer Sebastian Vettel (Team Germany)

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For media enquiries call +44(0)208 5413434 or email andyb@peformancepr.com or paul@performancepr.com
For general enquiries call +377 97 97 22 88 or email info@raceofchampions.com