- Watch The 2006 Race of Champions – Nations Cup live across the world, either on TV or on the web.
- F1 star Scott Speed and Touring Car Champion James Thompson step in to replace injured Jimmie Johnson and Jenson Button in the USA and English line-ups.
With only days remaining before Saturday's The Race of Champions – Nations Cup, ticket sales have already exceeded 47,000.
A number of grandstand seats enjoying panoramic views of the entire circuit are still available, but motor sport fans not fortunate enough to be at the Stade de France will still be able to follow the action from The 2006 Race of Champions – Nations Cup live on a long list of television networks across the world, as well as on the internet thanks to a special agreement with Eurosport.
Broadcasters in Europe, Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and the USA will carry live action from The Race of Champions and/or The ROC-Nations Cup, while viewers in many other countries will get the chance to watch extended highlights after the event (see below for provisional list of broadcasters).
Meanwhile, thanks to a groundbreaking operation in association with Eurosport's on-line division, those not covered by the above list will be able to log onto one of the international sports specialist's national or international websites (www.eurosport.com, .es, .de, .it, .fr, .co.uk, .ru and .cn) to obtain comprehensive coverage of the action in Paris.
"Eurosport is proud to be able to offer fans across the world the opportunity to see this year's The Race of Champions live over the internet," says Laurent-Eric Le Lay, President of Eurosport. "The 2006 ROC at the Stade de France is the only event of the season that brings together great champions like Sébastien Loeb (WRC), Sébastien Bourdais (Champ Car), Andy Priaulx (WTCC), Bernd Schneider (DTM), Travis Pastrana (X-Games), plus other stars like F1's David Coulthard, Heikki Kovalainen, WRC's Marcus Grönholm, seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and many others in a truly amazing competition."
The complete entry list features two new names following the last-minute withdrawals of England's Jenson Button and the USA's Jimmie Johnson owing to injury. The former is suffering from cracked ribs sustained in a karting accident, while the 2006 NASCAR champ broke his wrist in a fall from a golf cart.
"It was a fluke deal," relates Johnson, a member of the 2002 ROC-Nations Cup winning squad. "I was in a golf cart and the driver took a sharp turn. I wasn't holding on tight enough, landed awkwardly on the ground and heard a little pop. It's disappointing that I can't compete in The Race of Champions. But I'll still be in Paris to cheer on Team USA and provide any support I can."
"It is with enormous regret that I won't be competing in this year's The Race of Champions," admits Button. "Although the recent rib injury I sustained at a karting test is healing well, we decided that it was best that I didn't aggravate the condition. Because of this, I wlll not be able to participate in the last F1 test of the season and sadly I will have to miss The Race of Champions also. It was an event I was very much looking forward to and I wish everyone well, particularly my friend Andy Priaulx who was going to be my team-mate. I very much hope this opportunity presents itself again in the future because it's something I would really like to do. Good luck to everyone taking part!"
Their places in motor sport's annual end-of-season extravaganza have been filled by the United States Formula 1 star Scott Speed and England's multiple BTCC Champion and WTCC front-runner James Thompson.
"It was a surprise to be invited to say the least," admits 23-year old Scott Speed who drove for the Toro Rosso F1 team in 2006. "I definitely wasn’t expecting to replace Jimmie Johnson in The Race of the Champions this year. Of course I’m really excited and I can’t wait to race against all these guys. I'm also really happy to be getting back together and teaming up with my old friend Travis, who I know from the Red Bull days."
· For reference, entries for The 2006 Race of Champions – Nations Cup are:
Sébastien Bourdais (France/ChampCar), David Coulthard (Scotland/F1), Mattias Ekström (Sweden/DTM & WRC), Marcus Grönholm (Finland/WRC), Heikki Kovalainen (Finland/F1), Tom Kristensen (Denmark/Endurance & DTM), Sébastien Loeb (France/WRC), Colin McRae (Scotland/WRC), Yvan Muller (France/WTCC), Travis Pastrana (USA/X-Games), Stéphane Peterhansel (France/Rally-Raid), Andy Priaulx (England/WTCC), Nani Roma (Spain/Rally-Raid), Bernd Schneider (Germany/DTM), Armin Schwarz (Germany/WRC), Scott Speed (USA/F1), Dani Sordo (Spain/WRC) and James Thompson (England/WTCC).
· Broadcasters scheduled to show live action from The 2006 Race of Champions - Nations Cup:
Eurosport (Europe), Euro 1080 (Europe), RTBF (Belgium), IBC (Iceland), Sport Italia (Italy), 7TV (Russia), Al Jazeera (Qatar, Middle East), Eurosport Asia-Oceania (Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar), Astro (Malaysia) and HD Net (USA).
· Broadcasters scheduled to show recorded highlights of The 2006 Race of Champions - Nations Cup:
TYC (Central and South America), ESPN International (Latin America, Israel, Africa, Oceania), RTL7 (Holland), Cable Monegasque (Monaco), Pro Active (worldwide), Max Power (worldwide), ESPN 2 (USA), Aires Media (Macedonia), RTL (Hungary), CYBC (Cyprus), AB3 (Belgium), TF1 (France), M6 (France).
