Thompson: tipping Priaulx

Schumacher has been testing for Ferrari over the past few weeks and is still setting the fastest times of anyone, so regardless of being out of competition for a year, he is still the man to beat behind the wheel. You can rest assured none of that competitive spirit will have gone!

Georgie Thompson
Quotes of the week

RACE OF CHAMPIONS
Priaulx gears up
Andy Priaulx interview
I can't wait
Murray Walker's comeback

Related links

News

• Priaulx gears up
• Schumi revved up
• Murray: I can't wait
• Event history
• Race format
• Champions set for Wembley

Gallery

• Wembley transformed

Also see

• Wembley transformed
• Murray's comeback
• Race format

On Sunday, Wembley Stadium hosts the Race of Champions for the first time.

The hallow'ed turf has been transformed into a race track, Michael Schumacher is out of retirement and world champions from every motor sport discipline are revving up their engines.

The Sky Sports cameras will be there bringing you six hours of fast and furious action live, with the gorgeous Georgie Thompson fronting our coverage.

So, we asked Georgie to give us the lowdown on a truly unique event that will tell us who the best driver in the world is...

SKYSPORTS.COM: This is the first time Race of Champions will be shown on Sky Sports. For the uninitiated, sum it up in a nutshell.
GEORGIE THOMPSON: It's the best drivers in the world against each other on equal terms to find out who is the best. They race against each other in identical cars on a specially-built track and it's the only time a driver like Michael Schumacher will get to race against someone like current NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, someone he wouldn't ordinarily get to race against. There are two parts to the day, one for individuals one for teams.

SS.COM: We'll get into the individual stars later. Tell us about the team event first...
GT: The Race of Nations is all about teamwork to establish which country has the fastest drivers. Each team has two drivers, for instance Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx are representing England and David Coulthard and Alistair McRae, Scotland. It's knockout and each heat is won by the winner of the best of three races. Eventually it's whittled down to the final two nations left to compete in the final for the title of the world's fastest nation.

SS.COM: So what about the individual contest?
GT: The Race of Champions is all about individual merit and driver skill. It's driver against driver and it works in two sections. The rally drivers and the racing drivers. Heats determine who is the best from each discipline and then they meet in the Superfinal to determine who is the champion of champions.

SS.COM: Tell us about the drivers. There's some weird and wonderful champions from the world of motorsport isn't there?
GT: They are the absolute creme de la creme of motorsport, across the board. First up has to be Michael Schumacher, he will be the star attraction. But Sky Sports' own Andy Priaulx has just got that third World Touring Car championship under his belt; Jenson Button and David Coulthard have just finished the F1 season and as for the others, they are the very best in their respective disciplines too, so expect the unexpected when technical supremacy is substituted for equality.

SS.COM: What about the others, the ones that are not such household names, shall we say?
GT: They are all champions and great drivers. There's 2006 Nascar champion Jimmie Johnson - he'll be fun to watch in action on these shores; a touring car driver Yvan Muller who pushed Priaulx all the way in the race to be world champion this year; multiple Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen; and Heikki Kovalainen, the F1 driver who actually beat Schumacher in the 2004 Race of Champions. And then there's Travis Pastrana, the Rally America champion. Last year he became a real crowd favourite representing America all by himself when Johnson and then Scott Speed were taken ill at the last minute. He's a bit of a character who has even leapt into the Grand Canyon on a bike with a parachute on his back and lived to tell the tale - the crowd will absolutely love him.

SS.COM: But as you say, all eyes will be on Schumacher. We haven't seen much of him since retirement...
GT: This is the first time he'll have raced competitively since retiring. He has been testing for Ferrari over the past few weeks and is still setting the fastest times of anyone, so regardless of being out of competition for a year, he is still the man to beat behind the wheel. You can rest assured none of that competitive spirit will have gone!

SS.COM: But surely Wembley is too small for F1 cars to figure. What will Schumacher be asked to drive?
GT: There's five different cars. There's the Aston Martin, the Ford Focus rally car, the Solution F car, the Fiat Grande Punto and the Race of Champions car. I've been told they can go up to 150kph, which is pretty fast when you consider how tight the track is.

SS.COM: Tell us about the track. It's hard to imagine a full-blown racing track shoe-horned into an area which is literally, not much bigger than a football pitch.
GT: They've managed, over the course of a few days to lay down a tarmac track within the pitch area at Wembley. It's going to cost them £150,000 to re- turf it, but it's a gigantic feat. It's incredible when you see it, it's like a gigantic Scalextric track! They actually race like Scalextric as well, parallel. There's no overtaking, it's two cars side-by-side and they really race against the clock. It's a kilometre long, so the action is going to be fast and furious and it's a tight, tight track, which is something a lot of the drivers just won't be used to. There are going to be plenty of hairy moments!

SS.COM: It sounds like a pretty hair-raising experience all-round...
GT: That's the key to this, it's absolutely fantastic for the spectators. They get to see every single inch of the track, every single piece of the action. It's perfect for people who are not necessarily mad motor racing fans and it's a great day out for the family. They can get to Wembley easily compared to most race tracks and it is a great day out for everyone.

SS.COM: These spectacles are never just about the races. What else is going on?
GT: All sorts... exhibitions before the racing starts and in between the two competitions, there's an F1 car on display, all sorts of bike stunts, cheerleaders and what will be an emotional tribute to the late, great Colin McRae.

SS.COM: And what can we expect from Sky Sports' coverage.
GT: We're on air for six hours from 1.30pm. I'll be joined in the studio by Damon Hill. We've got Andy Priaulx down in the pits doing interviews when he's not racing and the legend that is Murray Walker in the commentary box. One other thing to look out for is our exclusive interview, 'When Murray met Michael'. We've got on-board cameras and the very expensive Spidercam that is suspended over the stadium to give viewers at home an every-angle-covered racing experience.

SS.COM: Sounds like you've got a busy weekend in store, so we'll let you go. But not without a quick prediction. Who is going to be the 2007 champion?
GT: Well, of course everyone is talking about Michael Schumacher, but there are so many great drivers, it's tough to call. I know Andy Priaulx cannot wait for the chance to take on these F1 guys in his own car so I'm going for the housewives' favourite at 25-1!