Nations Cup back at Stade de France the 3rd Dec 2005
· World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb and ex-Ferrari F1 racer Jean Alesi to defend Nations Cup title. Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon to lead Team USA. More major stars to commit soon.
· Fans vote ROC top event.
· TV figures at all time high.
Exactly six months since The Race of Champions – Nations Cup first blasted into the Stade de France outside Paris, Pascal Simonin, General Director of Stade de France and Fredrik Johnsson, President of IMP - the organisers of the event, confirmed today that the sell-out spectacle will return to the famous French World Cup stadium on December 3rd 2005.
This year’s will be the 18th running of the head-to-head competition for the world’s top racing and rally drivers. The end-of-season event, created by Fredrik Johnsson and rally star Michele Mouton, began in Paris in 1988 before moving to Germany and Spain. On its return to France last winter, 62,333 fans flocked from across the globe to witness names such as Michael Schumacher, Sebastien Loeb, David Coulthard and Jimmie Johnson in close confines.
Battling in a mix of identical cars on parallel tracks laid out over the hallowed turf of the French national stadium, the stars revelled in the intense competition. The winner of the Race of Champions was Finnish GP2 star Heikki Kovalainen, who sensationally beat Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Loeb. France won the Nations Cup – motor sport’s equivalent of the World Cup.
“We are very excited to have confirmed an agreement to continue with the Stade de France,” said Fredrik Johnsson. “The relationship we had for the 2004 event was fantastic and there are few better places to stage such a massively-popular festival of motorsport like The Race of Champions – Nations Cup. We look forward to welcoming the stars and the fans back to Paris on December 3rd”.
STARS LINE UP
It is appropriate that French team member and reigning World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb is the first driver to confirm his attendance at this year’s Race of Champions – Nations Cup. "I really look forward to be back in the incredible atmosphere in the Stade de France and defend the ROC Nations Cup-title we won for France with JeanAlesi. My objective this year is also to re-claim the individual Race of Champions title that I lost to Heikki Kovalainen last year."
Loeb’s French Nations Cup team mate Jean Alesi, winner of the first 2005 DTM race at Hockenheim for Mercedes, will also return to the Stade de France to defend home honours.
NASCAR Champion Jeff Gordon, who missed the 2004 event through illness, has confirmed he will lead the popular American team to France in December. Gordon has previously competed in the 2002 Race of Champions – Nations Cup when it was held in the Canary Islands. Team USA won the Nations Cup that year. "It was disappointing to miss the Race of Champions last year, but I'm looking forward to participating this year's event," said Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet who is currently third in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series after three wins this year, including the Daytona 500. "This event gives us the chance to compete for our country, but it also gives us the opportunity to talk to other drivers and learn about their experiences in different forms of racing."
Many of the big names who were in Paris for the 2004 Race of Champions – Nations Cup have verbally agreed to come back. When their attendance is finalised it will be made public.
FANS GIVE THE THUMBS-UP
The 2004 Race of Champions – Nations Cup has scored the highest satisfaction rating of all non-football or rugby matches held at the Stade de France since the inauguration 1998. The score, 9.1 out of 10, was supported by a survey of fans. 89% of spectators said they would come back for this year’s event.
190 000 000 TV viewers
One hundred and ninety million viewers watched Race of Champions – Nations Cup from the Stade de France in 2004. It was shown on 334 TV Channels covering 205 countries, including BBC, TF1, RTL, HDNet, Speed, ESPN, Al Jazeera, Eurosport and GDTV.
