www.motorsport.co.za (2010/02/08) - MUSICAL CHAIRS SCENARIO SETS SCENE FOR EXPLOSIVE OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP (2010/02/08) - NEW SPONSOR FOR ABSA OFF ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP (2010/02/08) - STANFORD JUNIOR NATIONAL PRODUCED FIRST BIKE AND QUAD WINNERS (2010/02/02) - ODI RACE WAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR 2010 (2010/02/02) - Kyalami gears up for 2010 Motorsport Season (2010/02/01) - “DAY OF THE CHAMPION” CERTAINLY LIVED UP TO ITS NAME (2010/02/01) - DCM YAMAHA ANNOUNCES ITS RACE TEAM FOR 2010. (2010/02/01) - ASA FREE STATE 500 TELEVISION WORLDWIDE DISTRIBUTION LIST CONTINUES TO GROW (2010/02/01) - RECORD AMOUNT OF ENTRIES FOR STANFORD JUNIOR NATIONAL OFF-ROAD (2010/02/01) - Douglas Judd steps out of national rally spotlight (2010/02/01) - BRITON WINS INAUGURAL FREE STATE 500 FROM AN AMERICAN WOMAN AND AN AFRO-AMERICAN MAN (2010/02/01) - EXCITING EXPERIENCE AWAITS ERMELO TOYOTA 400 COMPETITORS (2010/01/28) - South African Karters – why are they so good? (2010/01/25) - Bonafede switches to Bridgestone Production Cars (2010/01/25) - SIX SA DRIVERS QUALIFY FOR ASA INTERNATIONAL FREE STATE 500 / SES SA-JAERS KWALIFISEER VIR INTERNASIONALE VRYSTAAT 500 (2010/01/20) - READY TO GO – ERMELO TOYOTA 400! (2010/01/20) - NEW QUAD CLASS AND CHANGES FOR 2010 BIKE OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS (2010/01/19) - HONDA NSF 100 News! (2010/01/19) - CASTROL EDGE PRE 1963 HISTORIC SPORTS GT AND PRODUCTION CAR EVENT (2010/01/19) - ZWARTKOPS INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE CHAMPION SUNDAY 31st JANUARY 2010
 09 February 2010
 
   Giniel de Villiers second in Race of Champions Beijing Challenge
Five-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Emanuele Pirro beat reigning Dakar Rally champion Giniel de Villiers in the final of the ROC Beijing Challenge on the opening day of The Race of Champions in the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing on Monday.

ROC China kicked off three days of action in the magnificent stadium built for the Beijing Olympic Games, with The ROC Nations Cup on Tuesday and The Race of Champions on Wednesday.

A1GP racer and ex-Williams F1 test driver Dong He Bin was crowned the inaugural ROC China champion after beating novelist and rally driver Han Han in Monday’s other final.
The two will team up in today’s ROC Nations Cup.

De Villiers, the first South African to be invited to participate in the prestigious annual event, reached Monday’s final by beating twice world rally champion Marcus Gronholm in the semi-final.

“Racing inside the Bird’s Nest Stadium was an awesome experience,” said the 37-year-old from Stellenbosch. “This is my first visit to China and I’m really enjoying myself. The people are very friendly and there is a lot of enthusiasm for the racing.”

De Villiers, who won the Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile in January in a Volkswagen Race Touareg, will team up with former F1 race winner David Coulthard in today’s The ROC Nations Cup competition and will compete as the All Stars against the likes of seven-times F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher representing Germany, newly-crowned F1 World Champion Jenson Button of Great Britain and eight-times Le Mans 24 Hour winner Tom Kristensen of Scandinavia.

Coulthard will be a formidable team-mate to the South African. The Scot, 13 times an F1 grand prix winner and now an F1 commentator with the BBC, was runner-up to world rally champion Sebastian Loeb in the 2008 Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium in England.

Issued by Peter Burroughes Communications, telephone 082 899 0101 or e-mail bowtie@iafrica.com.
High resolution images can be downloaded from www.raceofchampions.com or e-mail press2009@raceofchampions.com.