News 13 Oct 2010

General: Doohan to return for 2010 Race of Champions

Mick Doohan will represent Australia in the 2010 Race of Champions next month.

Mick Doohan will represent Australia in the 2010 Race of Champions next month.

Five-time world motorcycling champion Mick Doohan has joined the stunning array of motorsport superstars to sign up for the 2010 Race of Champions in Düsseldorf, Germany on 27-28 November.

The annual end-of-season competition brings together the world’s greatest drivers from motor sport’s most prestigious disciplines and pits them head-to-head in identical machinery.

Now Doohan has joined a driver roll call that already includes seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, four-time F1 world champion Alain Prost, seven-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb, eight-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner Tom Kristensen, X-Games legend Travis Pastrana and 2010 F1 title contender Sebastian Vettel.

“It took me a while to make my ROC debut but now you just can’t keep me away!” Doohan beamed. “The Race of Champions is always a fun event, where it’s great to meet up with friends old and new from the world of four wheels.

“While it’s friendly off the track, it’s the opposite when we’re at the start line with our engines revving. So I will do my best to show them they should underestimate us bikers at their peril…”

The winner of over 50 top-flight motorcycle grands prix, Doohan has a wealth of experience inside the cockpit too, even testing a Williams F1 car in 1998. He made his first appearance at The Race of Champions last year in Beijing and he has also taken part in the two all-new ROC Legends races held in Portugal over the last two summers, reaching the semi-final in 2009.

The Race of Champions has been staged every year since 1988, founded by IMP President Fredrik Johnsson and Michèle Mouton, the world’s most successful female rally driver. This year’s event will take place on a specially constructed tarmac circuit with two parallel lanes winding their way round Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena.

“Mick is a true legend of his sport so we’re thrilled that he will be joining us again next month,” Johnsson said. “Four wheels may be rather more than he’s known for but he always gives the car racers a run for their money.”

More star drivers will be announced as the countdown to the 2010 Race of Champions continues in the run-up to the big weekend in Düsseldorf on 27-28 November.

Recent