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The Race Of Champions returns to Düsseldorf

The 24th Race Of Champions will be held at Düsseldorf's ESPRIT arena on the weekend of December 3-4, 2011
The German venue, which also hosted ROC 2010, replaces Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena after a late fixture clash with Bundesliga football.  Following their ROC Nations Cup win at the stadium last year, F1 superstars Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel will return to defend their title.

Düsseldorf's ESPRIT arena is to host its second successive Race Of Champions on December 3-4, 2011 instead of Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena.
       
In addition to last year's successful Race Of Champions, the ESPRIT arena has also hosted international football matches, world heavyweight boxing title fights and this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Now this news means the noise of engines will again reverberate round the Düsseldorf stadium in December.
       
While there is excitement at this outstanding replacement venue, race organisers wish to extend their sincere apologies to the thousands of fans who have already ordered tickets for the event in Frankfurt. As announced last week, this had to be changed due to a late fixture clash with Germany's Bundesliga football.

Düsseldorf has been chosen as the replacement as it is the closest alternative venue in order to allow as many Frankfurt ticket-holders as possible to attend. By way of recompense for this inconvenience, the organisers have created a special offer for existing ticket-holders to come to Düsseldorf. Alternatively they will be entitled to a full refund.

Race organiser Fredrik Johnsson said: "We had a successful event at the ESPRIT arena last year and we look forward to working alongside the same people again. While we are happy to be heading back, we want to apologise again to all the race fans who made plans to join us in Frankfurt. After our announcement last week we were contacted by a number of great venues but Düsseldorf is the closest alternative and we hope our special offer will make up for some of the disappointment. With Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and the other great champions, the event is sure to thrill everyone who makes it to Düsseldorf in December."
       
Patrik Meyer, Managing Director of German promoters TSP, said: "We're happy that we have been able to sort out this perfect replacement venue at such short notice. We know Düsseldorf's ESPRIT arena well from last year. It is a spectacular stadium and the crowds will see equally spectacular racing. We're sorry to inconvenience the fans who already have tickets for Frankfurt but we hope as many as possible will take us up on our special offer to see the greats of motorsport in action."

       
The Race Of Champions is an annual end-of-season competition that brings together the world's greatest drivers from all motor sport's disciplines - including Formula 1, world rally, touring cars, Le Mans and NASCAR - and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery on a specially constructed parallel track. Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday 3 December, before the individual Race Of Champions takes place on Sunday 4 December.

Düsseldorf's ESPRIT arena features a roof and heating system, and the atmosphere is certain to be heated as German F1 superstars Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel again head ROC's line-up of motorsport legends in front of their home fans. For information about tickets for the Race Of Champions in Düsseldorf please visit the official website.

The full driver line-up for the 2010 Race Of Champions was:
       
       
            Sebastian VETTEL, 2010 Formula 1 World Champion
            Michael SCHUMACHER, Seven-time Formula 1 World Champion
            Alain PROST, Four-time Formula 1 World Champion
            Sébastien LOEB, Seven-time World Rally Champion
            Mick DOOHAN, Five-time World 500cc Motorcycling Champion
            Tanner FOUST, 2010 X-Games rally and rallycross gold medallist
            Heikki KOVALAINEN, Formula 1 grand prix winner
            Tom KRISTENSEN, Eight-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner
            Andy PRIAULX, Three-time World Touring Car Champion
            Jason PLATO, Two-time British Touring Car Champion
            Alvaro PARENTE, GP2 race winner & winner ROC South Europe 2010
            Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, A1GP race winner & winner ROC South Europe
2010
            Jeroen BLEEKEMOLEN, Two-time Porsche Supercup Champion
            Bertrand BAGUETTE, 2009 World Series by Renault Champion
            Carl EDWARDS, 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion
            Travis PASTRANA, Eleven-time X-Games gold medallist