BEIJING, China - The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers from different disciplines including World Rally, Formula One and NASCAR competing head to head using identical cars.

In 2009, the Race of Champions - the ultimate end-of-season motorsport battle – will become the first international sports event to be staged at China’s national stadium since the 2008 Summer Olympics when it takes place on November 3 - 4, 2009.

The “Bird’s Nest” stadium will host the event, which moves from Wembley after a two-year run at England’s national stadium and three years at the Stade de France in Paris. The 2009 event, which started just two days after the Formula 1 season reaches its climax in Abu Dhabi, will moves from a weekend to a midweek event for the first time.

The event will be staged over two days, with the ROC Nations Cup on Tuesday, November 3 and The Race of Champions on Wednesday, November 4, to offer spectators a more extensive exhibitions line-up, plus the possibility of more competitors and teams than ever before.

Speaking about the move, Fredrik Johnsson, President of Event Organisers IMP, enthused, “we received exciting proposals from five world-class stadia, but after the incredible Olympics last year, Beijing’s candidacy was difficult to ignore. The Bird’s Nest venue is awesome and having spent the last five years at two of Europe’s biggest stadiums, we were thrilled about the opportunity to take The Race of Champions to Asia for the first time, to another of the world’s most iconic sporting arenas.”

Mr Li Jianyi, General Manager of Great Gate, managing company of the Bird's Nest, said of the agreement: “Following last year’s Olympics, we now possess one of the world’s best sporting stadia and will continue to stage elite international sporting competition in Beijing. We are very excited about The Race of Champions coming. The stadium has already hosted the world’s fastest athletes; now it will host the world’s fastest racers.”

A Brief History of ROC The race was first organised in 1988 by former rally driver Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnsson, IMP (International Media Productions) President. Originally the event was a competition between the world's best rally drivers, but has since expanded to include top competitors from most of the world's premier motorsport disciplines, including motorcycle racing.

The top individual overall in The Race of Champions is given the title "Champion of Champions", and receives the Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy.

The ROC Nations' Cup was added in 1999 and now features teams of two drivers who compete for their country in a head-to-head, best-of-three knockout event.

On Day One of the 2009 ROC, team Germany's Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel emerged winners of the Nations Cup, while team Britain's Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx came in second.

On Day Two, Swede Mattias Ekstrom beat seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher to win the Race of Champions for a third time. The twice DTM touring car champion had already bested new F1 champion Jenson Button on his way to the final at the Bird's Nest stadium.

Ekstrom has beaten Schumacher in the first two of three races to clinch another title to add to those he won in 2006 and 2007.

2008’s Race of Champions attracted the most successful ever drivers from Formula 1 (Michael Schumacher), World Rallying (Sebastien Loeb), the Le Mans 24 Hours (Tom Kristensen), and World Touring Cars (Andy Priaulx), as well as F1 race winners Jenson Button, David Coulthard and Sebastian Vettel, plus Triple World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss. Others to have competed in the past include Valentino Rossi, Fernando Alonso and Colin McRae.