New F1 king set for Beijing showpiece
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Newly-crowned F1 world champion Jenson Button will head straight from Abu Dhabi to the Bird's Nest in Beijing after the final round of this year's Formula One World Championship to take part in this year's Race of Champions (ROC) on November 3-4, along with beaten F1 title rival Sebastian Vettel.
The ROC is made up of two separate competitions - the ROC Nations Cup, featuring drivers paired in teams based on their nationalities, and The Race of Champions, a straightforward individual knockout competition where drivers go head-to-head until a champion is decided.
The individual winner of the ROC will claim the title "Champion of Champions".
"It's always a great event, it's great for the fans but it's especially good for all of us competitors," said Briton Button.
"It's pretty intense; it's great to have so many different competitors from around the world. Really it's a great end-of-season event to just chill out and enjoy yourself and I'm looking forward to this year because the Bird's Nest is a pretty amazing stadium, it's going to be a lot bigger than before, so it's going to be a lot of fun."
The annual end-of-season extravaganza, which featured Button and colleagues at Wembley Stadium in 2007 and 2008, brings together the greatest drivers from the world of motor sports with stars of F1, rallying, sports cars, touring cars and NASCAR battling each other in identical vehicles.
The race's promoter, Fredrik Johnsson, said he was thrilled to have the new world champion on the star-studded list.
"Jenson has been a great competitor in ROC over the past two years and it's been fantastic to see him leading the way in F1 this year," said Johnsson, the co-founder of the event and president of International Media Productions (IMP)
Apart from competing in the individual race, Button will be joined by World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) star Andy Priaulx in the Nations Cup to fight for a double win.
"Having enjoyed competing in the Race of Champions at Wembley and Stade de France, as well as the ROC Legends event in Porto, I'm excited to see the track in Beijing, which I'm told is going to be bigger and better than ever before," said three-time FIA WTCC champion Priaulx.
Germany draw China
Meanwhile, the first-round draw for the Nations Cup was announced on Tuesday and sees hosts China against Germany.
It's a great and thrilling result for Chinese fans as they will witness how local drivers challenge F1 legend Michael Schumacher and Vettel.
Seven-time world champion Schumacher and rising compatriot Vettel boast an unbeaten record in the Nations Cup since teaming up for the first time in 2007 and will compete for an unprecedented third title together, as well as vying for the individual honors.
"The Race of Champions is always great fun to compete in," said Schumacher. "It's the perfect combination of fighting on the track and at the same time having fun together and this comes across to the audience. The spectators feel this special atmosphere and ultimately enjoy themselves as much as we do.
"I'm really looking forward to joining in again this year and am curious to see how the Chinese spectators will react to our crazy show on the track in the famous and beautiful Olympic stadium."
The F1 great has yet to win the individual title in three attempts. He lost in the semifinals and final in 2004 and 2007 respectively,
"Sebastian and I are geared up to defend our title again. And, of course, I will push hard in the driver's category and will try to win there too."
Other elite drivers to vie for this year's title include World Rally Championship (WRC) winners Mikko Hirvonen and Marcus Gronholm, Tom Kristensen of the Le Mans 24 Hours, Yvan Muller of WTCC and DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom, as well as F1 race winner David Coulthard.
China will also send its best 16 drivers to gain experience at the racing gala.
Dakar Rally veteran Lu Ningjun, popular author and driver Han Han, and Chinese-Dutch F3 champion Tung Ho-Pin will be among the home fans' favorites.
The 16 Chinese drivers will first race in a domestic competition on Nov 2 from which the top two will represent Team China in the Nations Cup.
The winner will also race in the individual championship.
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