Brit stars head-to-head

Lewis Hamilton will receive the legendary Wembley roar when he competes in the Race of Champions on 14 December.

But the newly crowned F1 world champion won’t go head-to-head with Michael Schumacher, plus an all-star cast, in the day’s main event.

Instead he will be taking part in a specially organised showdown against Britain’s triple Olympic cycling gold medallist, Chris Hoy.

Hamilton will drive a Mercedes road car around a custom-made twin-lane track, while Hoy will be pedalling hard on his bike. The two stars will start side-by-side, and duel it out in what’s billed as ‘the ultimate test of man and machine’.

“It will be special – the atmosphere is going to be crazy,” said Hamilton, who will also wow the Wembley Stadium crowd with some demonstration runs in his McLaren-Mercedes racer.

“To see 80,000 fans for the first time since becoming world champion will be a great way to end a fantastic year.”

As Hoy knows he won’t be able to match Hamilton’s Merc for outright speed, he’s pinning his hopes of victory on the tight and twisty nature of the track.

“I can kick out about 2.5bhp, so that’s not going to quite match his car,” said the Scot. “But I think they’ll make the race as close as possible, and I’ll be giving it absolutely everything. I’m really looking forward to it.” The Hamilton vs Hoy showdown will act as an intriguing curtain-raiser for the annual Race of Champions, being staged at the London arena for the second time. The main event will see a host of stars from all motorsport
disciplines competing against one another on the same parallel course.

As well as seven-time F1 title winner Schumacher, this year’s line-up includes five-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb. Grands prix-winning Brits Jenson Button and David Coulthard are joined by fellow F1 star Sebastian Vettel, as well as bike ace Troy Bayliss and Le Mans 24 Hours record breaker Tom Kristensen. It promises to be quite a day.  

Tickets are on sale now, and you can book your place by calling 0844 412 1743, or see the raceofchampions.com website. Adult prices start at £18, with child tickets from £9.