SCHUMACHER, VETTEL CHASING HAT TRICK

+ Click to Enlarge IN EXALTED COMPANY: South African Giniel de Villiers (right) reached the final of the Race of Champions Beijing Challenge, where he lost to five-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Emanuele Pirro.

November 4, 2009

Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium has been transformed into a motor racing circuit, with some of the world's top drivers gearing up to compete in the 2009 Race of Champions on Wednesday.

South African Dakar rally winner Giniel de Villiers, 2009 Formula 1 World champion Jenson Button, seven-times F1 champion Michael Schumacher and Abu Dhabi GP winner Sebastian Vettel are among those who will compete at the main 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium.

It will be the first time the Race of Champions has been held outside Europe in its 21-year history that has pitted the world's best racers from various disciplines against each other with identical machines.

Schumacher said on Tuesday: "As soon as we have a steering-wheel in our hands, we go for it - it's natural for all of us - but the good thing is that, up front, in between, we have a good time, we enjoy it and we don't take it so seriously."

Other top drivers in the Bird's Nest loop include eight-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Tom Kristensen, legendary multiple World motorcycle champion Mick Doohan and three-times World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx.

On Tuesday night drivers were split into two-person national sides for the Race of Champions Nation's Cup, with Schumacher aiming for a hat trick for Germany.

Vettel, Schumacher's team mate for Tuesday's event, said: "We're looking for a hat trick, Michael and me. The circuit is very exciting, it's a very spectacular venue." - AFP

Earlier from Beijing: Five-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Emanuele Pirro on Monday beat reigning Dakar rally champion Giniel de Villiers in the final of the Race of Champions Beijing Challenge on the opening day of the Race of Champions.

The Race of Champions China started three days of action in the Chinese Olympic stadium on Monday, with the Nations Cup on Tuesday and the Race of Champions scheduled for Wednesday.

A1GP racer and ex-Williams F1 test driver Dong He Bin was crowned inaugural Race of Champions China champion after beating novelist and rally driver Han Han in Monday’s other final. They teamed up for the Nations Cup.

De Villiers, the first South African to be invited to participate in the annual event, reached Monday's final by beating double World Rally champion Marcus Gronholm in the semi-final.

"Racing in the Bird's Nest Stadium was awesome," said the 37-year-old from Stellenbosch. "This is my first visit to China and I'm really enjoying myself. The people are very friendly and there is a lot of enthusiasm for the racing."

De Villiers won the Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile in January 2009 in a VW Touareg. He teamed up with Formula 1 driver David Coulthard for The ROC Nations Cup and will compete as the All Stars against the likes of Schumacher, new F1 World champion Jenson Button, and eight-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Tom Kristensen.

Coulthard, now an F1 commentator for the BBC, was runner-up to World Rally champion Sebastian Loeb in the 2008 Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium in England.