24/11/2008
NEWS STORY
Newly-crowned FIA World Touring Car Champion, Yvan Muller, will complete the line-up for Team France at the Race of Champions on Sunday 14 December, at Wembley Stadium, joining Sébastien Loeb, the most successful WRC driver of all time.
Former British Touring Car Championship favourite Muller clinched the world title at Macau in China earlier this month, with SEAT. He will be making his fourth attempt at The Race of Champions.
Muller will join a list of star drivers in the end-of-season spectacular to find out who is the "champion of champions". They include seven times Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, British F1 stars Jenson Button and David Coulthard, and Muller's fellow WTCC racer, three times world champion Andy Priaulx. With his first WTCC title under his belt, Muller is now looking forward to racing without the pressure of a championship, and wowing the UK fans who know him well from his days in the BTCC.
"When you are invited to take part in The Race of Champions, you say yes," he explains. "It is a great event and, to be able to race without having special targets, just to give some fun to the fans is good. Racing in a stadium like Wembley is a very different experience to what I do the rest of the year, and I am very happy that I can do a second event in the UK this year, after the Brands Hatch round of the WTCC."
Fredrik Johnsson, President of event organisers IMP, said: "Yvan has long been one of the most popular and admired drivers thanks to his flamboyant and often spectacular driving style. He has thrilled audiences all over the world with a flare behind the wheel that will serve him well on The Race of Champions track, as well as providing the crowds with yet more mastery to enjoy."