RoC: Button will be there
By LJ Hutchins
Friday, July 11th, 2008
Jenson Button has confirmed that he will be taking part in the Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium in December.
The Honda F1 driver competed in last year’s event, representing England alongside three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx.
Unfortunately (and, pretty typically, given their nationality and the venue) the pair were bunged out in the semi-finals only to see Germany take the ultimate prize. Quite why we expected anything different is a bit of a mystery now.
Last year’s big grudge match was presented as an England-Scotland contest with a jokey ‘war of words’ drummed up between Button and David Coulthard.
This year things will change. Confronting the age-old home nations sporting dilemma head on, organisers are going for two British teams, “leaving more options for potential drivers to enter.”
Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel have already confirmed their re-attendance and will be the team to beat – although everyone is expecting to hear Coulthard will be there for a valedictory appearance following his retirement from F1.
Button said: “I never thought I’d be able to say I’d compete for my country against Germany at Wembley, but it was great to do that last year, and the crowd were awesome.
“As soon as I heard Schumacher and Vettel had signed up for Germany again, I knew I had to come back to take them on.
“Last year was the first time I’d done The Race of Champions and, although it’s all a bit of fun and we say it doesn’t matter who wins, I was gutted that we lost out to the German team.
“It’s the one chance of the year where we all get to compete against each other in identical cars, and I’m determined to help get Britain through to the final this time!”
Learn more about the event, including the cheap ticket deals that are on until the end of the month, by visiting its website here: http://www.raceofchampions.com/
Related posts:
- RoC: Coulthard to join Button and Priaulx in Beijing
- RoC: Germany make it three straight wins in Beijing
- RoC: win a drive with Schumi
- RoC: Ekstrom beats Schumacher to drivers’ title
- RoC: Coulthard confirms his appearance
Read more about David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Michael Schumacher, Race of Champions, Sebastian Vettel, Wembley Stadium.
This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 11:27 am and is filed under Events, F1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Don't forget you can keep up with Brits on Pole in the following ways: via RSS feed, or by receiving our weekly newsletter (and get a free F1 ebook when you do). Or follow us on Twitter or Racing Blips.
Author: LJ Hutchins. Supports McLaren, kind of. Thinks James May gets a rough deal off the other two. Drives a Subaru Impreza but regrets its lack of bright blue paint and gold wheels. Is very nearly old enough to know better but probably never will. Is a supporter member of the BWRDC. LJ has written 1119 articles for us.
Oh what a shock, they open it up for an additional Brit team, at Wembley!
Being one of those “nationalistic, and nasty Yanks, it will be interesting which NASCAR driver will be asked to attend and which F1/WRC drivers they toss to the curb dring the prelims.