Bourdais and Kanaan for RoC
Newly-crowned Champ Car king Sebastien Bourdais and IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan have both confirmed they will compete in the end-of-season Race of Champions event at the Stade de France in Paris
The inclusion of champions from both US motorsport's premier single-seater racing categories, the Champ Car World Series and the IRL IndyCar Series, marks the latest coup for the unique and popular head-to-head event. It also means that the reigning title-holder in every major car racing series worldwide could be accounted for given that F1 world champion Micheal Schumacher and WRC winner Sebastien Loeb have already announced their participation.
It's still possible that the NASCAR Nextel Cup champion could be represented. With two rounds left to go in the series, both US RoC team-mates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are in with a chance of winning. The only name left to complete the set is Moto GP champion Valentino Rossi. He has competed in the event before and is unashamed rallying fan. The RoC has yet to announce its Italian representatives...
Kanaan will pair with Sauber F1 driver Felipe Massa to make up team Brazil and the grand prix star is expected to take on the role of racer while Kanaan will be the rally driver for the night.
"When the organisers called me up they didn't have to finish the sentence for me to say yes," said Kanaan. "I have watched the RoC for a while, and a lot of the guys who have done it before like Kenny Brack and Cristiano da Matta have said how much fun it is."
Bourdais meanwhile will team-up with former F1 driver and new WRC sensation Stephane Sarrazin to create a second French team known as Playstation Team France. Loeb and Jean Alesi are already signed in for Team France.
"After having won the title in America it's fantastic to come back to France and compete," said Bourdais. "We will try to celebrate by winning another title in front of our home crowd!"
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