11/11/2004
NEWS STORY
Tony Kanaan and Sebastien Bourdais - champions of America's two leading open-wheel race series, IRL and Champ Car World Series, are the latest title holders to join the line-up for December's Race of Champions – Nations Cup at the Stade de France in Paris.
The Brazilian and the Frenchman will join an exclusive gathering of this year's title holders from across the spectrum of motor sport. Already confirmed for the December 4th event are F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, WRC Champion Sebastien Loeb and DTM Champion Matthias Ekstrom plus over half a dozen former champions including NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon and rally heroes Colin McRae and Marcus Gronholm.
Kanaan will form half of a powerful Brazilian team. His team mate will be Sauber F1 driver Felipe Massa. The Brazilians will bring an element of colour and showmanship to the event as they try to beat pairings from the USA, Europe and Scandinavia.
"It will be really nice to represent Brazil," says Kanaan. "When the organisers called me up they didn't have to finish the sentence for me to say yes. I have watched the Race of Champions 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. My personal feeling is that the real drivers are the rally drivers. They have to do well on all sorts of surfaces. I have done a couple of events in rally cars, the Bettega competition in Italy and a rally a long time ago in Brazil. That was in a BMW M3. I came second."
A regular points scorer in 2004, Massa will break from winter F1 testing to make the trip to Paris for the stadium spectacular. He will be in familiar company. He will join fellow F1 drivers David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher.
" think it has to be my aim to beat Michael Schumacher," says Massa. "But it is not just about trying to beat him. There will be some amazing drivers there like Loeb and Jeff Gordon.
"It's going to be very interesting to drive in the middle of the Stade de France. I say interesting but I have no idea how it is going to be. To be racing for Brazil will be cool. Tony Kanaan is a good friend. We have two open wheel guys so I am not sure how we will do. I hope we can be in the top 3."
The host nation of France now has two teams for the local fans to cheer on. Rivalling the existing French team of Sebastien Loeb and Jean Alesi, Team Playstation France will feature the new Champ Car title holder Sebastien Bourdais and racer/rally driver Stephane Sarrazin. Sarrazin stunned the rally world by finishing fourth on the WRC Catalunya Rally last week, beating many of the world's top drivers.
"I'm very proud to participate in such an important event as The Race of Champions," says Sarrazin. "I have already been teammate with Sebastien Bourdais last year in the 1000 km race at Le Mans were we finished 2nd in a Pescarolo. I hope we can do a good result for the French fans in the Stade de France."
Bourdais' agreement will give French fans a rare opportunity to see him in action on home soil. Seven wins in the Champ Car World Series have made him a household name in America.
"After having won the title in America it's fantastic to come back to France and compete," says Bourdais. "We will try to celebrate by winning another title in front of our home crowd!"