The end-of-season motorsport jamboree otherwise known as the Race of Champions is moving location for the second year in a row, after it was announced that the 2010 event will take place at Dusseldorf's ESPRIT arena.
The race will now have had four different venues in the last five years, with the Stade de France hosting it for the final time in 2006, before it spent two years at London's Wembley Stadium, before last year moving to the Beijing 'Bird's Nest' Stadium, ostensibly to make it easier for F1 stars to reach the event following the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
The ROC will return to Europe, though, after one year in Asia, with the race taking place in Dusseldorf's 51,500 seater ESPRIT Arena on the 26th and 27th November.
Speaking about the move, race co-organiser Fredrik Johnsson said that: "After the successful events in the Bird’s Nest in Beijing and Wembley Stadium, we received offers from top class venues all over the globe. But after a long selection process Germany came out on top.
"We had a very good experience in 1989 when we organised the second Race of Champions on the world’s first parallel track at the Nürburgring. That had an amazing response from the German fans so we felt it was time to take the ROC back there after all these years. With Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel fighting it out in Dusseldorf’s covered and heated arena the atmosphere promises to be really hot – even at the end of November."
The return of the race to Germany for the first time in over 20 years will allow the German fans to cheer on their Nations Cup team of Schumacher and Vettel, who have triumphed in the Nations Cup at the last three ROCs and have already signed up to compete in 2010.
"It's going to be very exciting to see The Race of Champions in Germany, particularly as Sebastian and I have won the Nations Cup for the last three years," Schumacher grinned after the news was announced.
"So this is a great opportunity and a fantastic decision from the organisers. I'm really looking forward to defending our title in front of our home crowd."
Meanwhile, Vettel added that: "It is special to do this kind of event in front of your home crowd. It will be a unique experience and hopefully Michael and I will get a lot of support."
No more drivers have yet been announced for the November event, though DTM driver Mattias Ekstrom is expected to return to defend his crown in the individual Race of Champions.
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