I do a thread for ROC because I am going to this tomorrow at Wembley Stadium. Anyway here are drivers are going to be facing in first heat. It's nations against nations.
Schumacher geared up for the Race of Champions
Media information: 15 December 2007
Michael Schumacher has had his first taste of The Race of Champions track at Wembley Stadium, before he takes on the cream of motorsport in the knock-out competition tomorrow.
The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion arrived at Wembley Stadium shortly before today’s press conference, in which he was drawn to face five-time Norwegian Rally Champion, Henning Solberg, in tomorrow’s first heat.
“All of these guys are good in their way,” said Schumacher, giving his reaction to the draw. “I don’t know Henning too much to judge but I’ll take it as it comes.”
Schumacher was one of the first drivers out this afternoon, getting track time in all the cars he is scheduled to drive in tomorrow’s unique event in which champion drivers from F1, NASCAR, World Rally, touring and sports car compete on a specially-built tarmac race track at the London landmark.
“I haven’t driven all the cars yet, just the buggie and the Solution F,” said Schumacher, who retired from F1 in 2006 but decided to make his competitive come back with The Race of Champions 2007. “The Solution F is a bit big for this track I think, but it’s the same for everyone. I prefer the buggie; it’s like a go kart in the rain! There is absolutely no grip!”
Also testing this afternoon was Schumacher’s ROC Nations Cup Team Germany partner, Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Toro Rosso. “It was very narrow,” said Vettel, speaking of the parallel race track constructed at Wembley Stadium for The Race of Champions using 1,800 tonnes of tarmac. “Maybe it looks easy from outside but there is no space for mistakes. There is one line that is very grippy but if you are off-line, it’s very dusty. I’m really enjoying it though; it’s a lot of fun.”
Jenson Button will be debuting in The Race of Champions tomorrow and says the cars are completely different to what he is used to after sampling them in practice this afternoon.
“The Solution F is probably the closest to what I drive,” said Button, who races for Honda F1. “It’s a fun car but there’s so little grip out there. It’s fun; I enjoyed it.
“With all the cars here you get very little grip so you get a lot of sideways action! I’ve been very close to the wall, but if you’re pushing, you’re almost touching the barriers here anyway!”
One driver that fell prey to the tough conditions was David Coulthard, who made contact with the barriers in the Solution F.
“I was really enjoying the practice until I crashed the car!” said the Red Bull Racing driver. “I was feeling quite confident; I thought I knew where the balance was, but today was a chance to push the limits of the car. Tomorrow I’ll have to be a bit more conservative.”
The Race of Champions draw for tomorrow’s first heat was conducted during today’s official press conference and went as follows:
Michael Schumacher Vs Henning Solberg
Jenson Button Vs Alister McRae
Jimmie Johnson Vs Sébastien Bourdais
David Coulthard Vs Petter Solberg
Heikki Kovalainen Vs Sebastian Vettel
Andy Priaulx Vs Yvan Muller
Mattias Ekström Vs Tom Kristensen
Marcus Gronhölm Vs Travis Pastrana
The ROC Nations Cup draw resulted in the following pairings:
France Sébastien Bourdais Vs Norway Henning Solberg
France Yvan Muller Vs Norway Petter Solberg
Finland Heikki Kovalainen Vs Scandinavia Tom Kristensen
Finland Marcus Grönholm Vs Scandinavia Mattias Ekström
Scotland David Coulthard Vs England Jenson Button
Scotland Alister McRae Vs England Andy Priaulx
USA Jimmie Johnson Vs Germany Michael Schumacher
USA Travis Pastrana Vs Germany Sebastian Vettel
All The Race of Champions action will be broadcast live on the ROC website, www.raceofchampions.com/live, starting from 14:00 GMT. For your last chance to get tickets to The Race of Champions, go to Wembley Stadium’s East ticket window from 10am on Sunday (16 December).
Source: http://www.raceofchampions.com/schumacher_...f_cha,7,39.html
Schumacher geared up for the Race of Champions
Media information: 15 December 2007
Michael Schumacher has had his first taste of The Race of Champions track at Wembley Stadium, before he takes on the cream of motorsport in the knock-out competition tomorrow.
The seven-time Formula 1 World Champion arrived at Wembley Stadium shortly before today’s press conference, in which he was drawn to face five-time Norwegian Rally Champion, Henning Solberg, in tomorrow’s first heat.
“All of these guys are good in their way,” said Schumacher, giving his reaction to the draw. “I don’t know Henning too much to judge but I’ll take it as it comes.”
Schumacher was one of the first drivers out this afternoon, getting track time in all the cars he is scheduled to drive in tomorrow’s unique event in which champion drivers from F1, NASCAR, World Rally, touring and sports car compete on a specially-built tarmac race track at the London landmark.
“I haven’t driven all the cars yet, just the buggie and the Solution F,” said Schumacher, who retired from F1 in 2006 but decided to make his competitive come back with The Race of Champions 2007. “The Solution F is a bit big for this track I think, but it’s the same for everyone. I prefer the buggie; it’s like a go kart in the rain! There is absolutely no grip!”
Also testing this afternoon was Schumacher’s ROC Nations Cup Team Germany partner, Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Toro Rosso. “It was very narrow,” said Vettel, speaking of the parallel race track constructed at Wembley Stadium for The Race of Champions using 1,800 tonnes of tarmac. “Maybe it looks easy from outside but there is no space for mistakes. There is one line that is very grippy but if you are off-line, it’s very dusty. I’m really enjoying it though; it’s a lot of fun.”
Jenson Button will be debuting in The Race of Champions tomorrow and says the cars are completely different to what he is used to after sampling them in practice this afternoon.
“The Solution F is probably the closest to what I drive,” said Button, who races for Honda F1. “It’s a fun car but there’s so little grip out there. It’s fun; I enjoyed it.
“With all the cars here you get very little grip so you get a lot of sideways action! I’ve been very close to the wall, but if you’re pushing, you’re almost touching the barriers here anyway!”
One driver that fell prey to the tough conditions was David Coulthard, who made contact with the barriers in the Solution F.
“I was really enjoying the practice until I crashed the car!” said the Red Bull Racing driver. “I was feeling quite confident; I thought I knew where the balance was, but today was a chance to push the limits of the car. Tomorrow I’ll have to be a bit more conservative.”
The Race of Champions draw for tomorrow’s first heat was conducted during today’s official press conference and went as follows:
Michael Schumacher Vs Henning Solberg
Jenson Button Vs Alister McRae
Jimmie Johnson Vs Sébastien Bourdais
David Coulthard Vs Petter Solberg
Heikki Kovalainen Vs Sebastian Vettel
Andy Priaulx Vs Yvan Muller
Mattias Ekström Vs Tom Kristensen
Marcus Gronhölm Vs Travis Pastrana
The ROC Nations Cup draw resulted in the following pairings:
France Sébastien Bourdais Vs Norway Henning Solberg
France Yvan Muller Vs Norway Petter Solberg
Finland Heikki Kovalainen Vs Scandinavia Tom Kristensen
Finland Marcus Grönholm Vs Scandinavia Mattias Ekström
Scotland David Coulthard Vs England Jenson Button
Scotland Alister McRae Vs England Andy Priaulx
USA Jimmie Johnson Vs Germany Michael Schumacher
USA Travis Pastrana Vs Germany Sebastian Vettel
All The Race of Champions action will be broadcast live on the ROC website, www.raceofchampions.com/live, starting from 14:00 GMT. For your last chance to get tickets to The Race of Champions, go to Wembley Stadium’s East ticket window from 10am on Sunday (16 December).
Source: http://www.raceofchampions.com/schumacher_...f_cha,7,39.html
