The 2008 Race of Champions

Race of Champions

The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers...

was the 21st running of the event, and took place on December 14, 2008 at Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Two special races were due to take place during the event, the first of which, with Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy

Chris Hoy

Sir Christopher Andrew "Chris" Hoy, MBE is a Scottish track cyclist representing Great Britain and Scotland. He is a multiple world champion and Olympic Games gold medal winner...

 cycling against the reigning Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...

, who was due to be driving a Mercedes road car. However, due to the slippery track at Wembley, Hoy could not take part on the bicycle. Hamilton did demonstrate his championship-winning Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One car at the event, his first major British public appearance since winning the F1 title. There was also a celebrity race, with eight celebrities taking part in Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corses

Fiat Nuova 500

The Fiat 500 or Fiat Nuova 500 is a city car built by Italian automaker Fiat since 2007. The car is currently produced in Tychy, Poland by Fiat Auto Poland S.A. and in Toluca, Mexico, by Chrysler Group LLC. The four-seater, three-door hatchback 500 is almost identical to the retro concept car...

. These celebrities were Hoy, boxers Frank Bruno

Frank Bruno

Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...

, David Haye

David Haye

David Deron Haye is a retired English professional boxer,Haye is the former WBA heavyweight champion. He is also the former unified world cruiserweight champion, holding the WBA, WBC, WBO, and The Ring cruiserweight titles, and also the former European cruiserweight champion.- Amateur :Haye...

, Amir Khan

Amir Khan (boxer)

Amir Iqbal Khan , is a British Pakistani professional boxer who is currently the unified WBA & IBF light welterweight champion....

 and Enzo Maccarinelli

Enzo Maccarinelli

Enzo Maccarinelli is a Welsh professional boxer who fights in the light heavyweight division. He is a former World Boxing Organization cruiserweight title holder and also held the European title at that weight limit...

, chef James Martin

James Martin (chef)

James Martin , is an English cook who first appeared on television in 1996.-Television career:...

, footballer Bacary Sagna

Bacary Sagna

Bacary Sagna is a French footballer who plays for Arsenal and the France national football team. His cousin Ibrahima Sonko also plays in England, for Ipswich Town. Sagna is called Bac by the majority of his teammates...

 and singer Shayne Ward

Shayne Ward

Shayne Thomas Ward is an English pop singer who rose to fame as the winner of second series of The X Factor. He has sold over 3 million records worldwide and has had number one albums and singles in 9 countries.During The X Factor competition, Ward was mentored by manager Louis Walsh...

.

Participants

• Drivers listed with 2008 series in brackets.

  Country	Rally driver	Circuit driver
  All-Stars	—	Troy Bayliss Troy Bayliss Troy Bayliss is a retired Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times, as well as the British Superbike Championship and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his career after winning the 2008 World Superbike title...  (World Superbikes Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship is the worldwide Superbike racing Championship. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Championship season consists of a series of rounds held on permanent racing facilities... )
  		Jaime Alguersuari Jaime Alguersuari Jaime Víctor Alguersuari Escudero , is a Spanish racing driver who became the youngest Formula One driver to start a Grand Prix in history at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. Alguersuari is the first driver to be born in the 1990s to compete in Formula One....  (British F3 British Formula Three Championship The British Formula Three Championship is an international motor racing series that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. Its current official title is... )
  France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship...  (WRC World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13... )	Yvan Muller Yvan Muller Yvan Muller is a French auto racing driver most noted for success in touring car racing. He is a two-time and the reigning World Touring Car Champion.-Single-seaters:...  (WTCC World Touring Car Championship For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:... )
  Autosport Autosport Autosport is a weekly magazine covering motorsport, published in the United Kingdom every Thursday by Haymarket Consumer Media. It was first published on 25 August 1950 by Gregor Grant, immediately prior to the Silverstone International Trophy meeting of that year...  Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...	—	Jenson Button Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button MBE is a British Formula One driver currently signed to McLaren. He was the 2009 World Drivers' Champion.Button began karting at the age of eight and achieved early success, before progressing to car racing in the British Formula Ford Championship and the British...  (F1 Formula One Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which... )
  		Andy Priaulx Andy Priaulx Andrew Graham Priaulx, MBE is a British racing driver from Guernsey. He is a European Touring Car Championship champion, three times World Touring Car Championship champion and the only FIA Touring Car champion to win an International level championship for four consecutive years...  (WTCC World Touring Car Championship For the video game, known as World Touring Car Championship in Japan, see TOCA World Touring CarsThe FIA World Touring Car Championship is an international Touring Car championship sanctioned by the FIA.-History:... )
  F1 Racing F1 Racing F1 Racing is a monthly magazine focused on Formula One racing which launched in March, 1996.The previous Editor, Matt Bishop, also used to write a fortnightly column for the website of the weekly magazine Autosport...  Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...	—	David Coulthard David Coulthard David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...  (F1 Formula One Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which... )
  		Jason Plato Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato is a British racing car driver currently competing in the BTCC for Silverline Chevrolet. He is a two time BTCC champion having previously won the series in 2001 when driving for Vauxhall and 2010 for Silverline Chevrolet. He has finished in the top 3 in the championship 8 times...  (BTCC British Touring Car Championship The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom. The Championship was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and has run to various rules over the years – "production cars", then FIA Group 1 or 2 in the late 1960s... )
  Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	—	Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....  (F1 Formula One Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which... )
  		Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...  (IDM/F1 testing Formula One Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which... )
  Ireland Ireland Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...  & UK	Gareth MacHale Gareth MacHale Gareth MacHale is an Irish rally driver, who has scored points in the World Rally Championship.-Career:MacHale comes from a family with a background in rallying. His father Austin MacHale is a five-time Irish Tarmac Rally Championship champion...  (WRC World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship is a rallying series organised by the FIA, culminating with a champion driver and manufacturer. The driver's world championship and manufacturer's world championship are separate championships, but based on the same point system. The series currently consists of 13... /ITRC)	Adam Carroll Adam Carroll Adam Carroll is a Northern Irish racing driver. He currently races in the GP2 Series for Super Nova and in Auto GP for Campos Racing, making his debut with pole position at Donington Park...  (GP2 GP2 Series The GP2 Series, GP2 for short, is a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecclestone also has the rights to the name GP1... /A1GP A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix was a 'single make' open-wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, the usual format in most formula racing series. As such, it was often promoted as the "World Cup of Motorsport"... )
  Scandinavia Scandinavia Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...	—	Mattias Ekström Mattias Ekström Mattias Ekström is a racing driver from Sweden. He has been competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Audi since 2001. He is a two-time DTM champion and a three-time winner of the Race of Champions.-Career:...  (DTM Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe.... )
  		Tom Kristensen Tom Kristensen Tom Kristensen is a Danish racing driver. He has won many championships in auto racing but his most famous achievement is being the only person to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans eight times, six of which were consecutive...  (DTM Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe.... /ALMS American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams compete in one of five classes: LMP1, LMP2 and LMPC... )
  USA	—	Carl Edwards Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards, II is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #99 Fastenal/Aflac Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series and the #60 Ford in the Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing...  (NASCAR NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and -operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947–48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr... )
  		Tanner Foust Tanner Foust Tanner Foust is a professional racing driver, stunt driver, and television host. He competes in rally, drift, ice racing, time attack and rallycross with multiple podium placements and national championships. He is a co-host on the American version of the motoring television series, Top...  (Formula D Formula D Formula DRIFT or Formula D is the premier United States drifting series. Formula Drift, Inc. was co-founded by Jim Liaw and Ryan Sage in 2003 as a sister company to Slipstream Global Marketing, the same partnership that brought D1 Grand Prix to the United States. The new entity would solely own,... )

Driver's Cup

Nations' Cup

External links

• Official website of the Race of Champions