Autoblog

Click above to view the KTM X-Bow at Wembley in high resolution

One look at the KTM X-Bow should tell you it's about as close to a race car for the road as you're ever likely to see. Add to that the European GT4 Sports Light championship and it pretty much seals the deal. But if that still isn't enough, here comes the news that the 2008 Race of Champions has chosen the super-light Austrian track car to compete in this year's event.

For the uninitiated, the Race of Champions takes place every year, fielding a roster including some of the best racers from various motor sport disciplines on two wheels and four against each other on identical machinery. Each year the list of vehicles is changed, and has in the past included Ferrari, Aston Martins, Porsches, Renaults, Abarths, various rally cars and a specially-made sprint car. Last month, RoC officials took a look at the X-Bow, alongside a 4WD racer powered by a pair of Suzuki Hyabusa motorcycle engines, but the final decision just came down. You'll be able to watch the X-Bow, along with the rest of the motor-pool, being man-handled by some of the world's greatest, including F1's Sebastian Vettel, WRC's Sebastien Loeb, DTM's Mattias Ekstrom and WTCC's Andy Priaulx along with recently retired legends Michael Schumacher and David Coulthard at Wembley in London on December 14. More info in the press release after the jump, and images in the gallery below.

[Source: Race of Champions]

The Race of Champions is scheduled to return to its new home at London's Wembley Stadium on December 14th. For those unfamiliar, the annual event pits a host of the best racing drivers in the world against each other on carefully-calibrated equal terms. The event is split between the solo competition and the nations' cup, the latter in which countries send their two best drivers to claim the honors for their homeland.

Last year's event saw DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom defeat Schumacher in the final rounds, after the two (pictured at right) made minced meat out of the rest of the field in a variety of vehicles including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage N24, Ford Focus RS WRC, Fiat Grande Punto S2000 Abarth, an Opel/Vauxhall-based Solution F touring car and a purpose-built sprint car. This year retired seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher is set to return, teaming up with rookie driver Sebastian Vettel again for Team Germany. So far only Schumacher and Vettel have confirmed their participation for 2008 – last year Travis Pastrana valiantly held down the fort for Team USA on his own – but more are sure to join as the date approaches. Stay tuned.

[Source: Auto Express]

For a retiree, Michael Schumacher sure has been getting a lot of press lately. If he's not testing prototypes for Ferrari, he's taking on rivals in the Race of Champions or getting in trouble with the fuzz for driving a taxi. But the 7-time world champion is also making an awful lot of money for someone who isn't even working.

Thanks to continued partnerships with some of Schumacher's biggest sponsors, the driving superstar is expected to pull in a staggering €35 million over the next seven years, taking his sponsorship deals through 2014.

Schumi's manager Willi Weber has been hard at work maintaining the commercial relationships with such big sponsors as Shell, Omega and Deutsche Vermogenberatung. At this year's RoC, the champ wore a white, black and orange suit decked out in sponsor's logos instead of the scarlet he wore while driving for Ferrari.

[Source: F1-Live, Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty]

Every year the Race of Champions makes for an enjoyable spectacle. The event, set to take place this year on December 16 at a tarmac-filled Wembley Stadium in England, pits drivers from all different forms of motorsport against on another to determine who is the best of the best, alongside a second competition, the Nations Cup, in which two drivers from each participating country strive for the glory of their homeland.

The team to watch this year is Germany, which puts together one of the most promising young drivers with the most decorated old champion. Sebastian Vettel, who recently left his test seat at BMW-Sauber for an impressive race debut with the erstwhile back-marker Scuderia Toro Rosso, will be teaming up with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher.

It's not the first time the two have crossed paths, but it is the first time the two will be racing together. Aside from both driving Ferrari-powered F1 cars for Italian teams, the two played together in the Nazionale Piloti soccer tournament in Italy, and Schumacher presented an up-and-coming Vettel with the trophy at a karting race years ago. Schumacher made his F1 debut when Vettel was only four years old, and it'll be interesting to watch the two race back to back for victory at the settling of the drunken bar bet of the year.

[Source: F1-Live]

Though we're sure Ferrari wishes Schumi were returning to the cockpit of one of their racers, he will actually be contesting the Race of Champions this December at the new Wembley Stadium. The now-retired septuple F1 World Champion has done the RoC before, in 2004, when he was beat by current Renault F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen, but he did beat rally driver Sebastian Loeb in a one-up rally heat. After turning Wembley's field into a tarmac track, 18 drivers from F1, Rally, NASCAR, Champ Car, Le Mans, Touring Cars, Dakar Rally Raids, and X-Games riders will compete in one-on-one heats to be declared the Champion of Champions. This year's race will also feature a national shootout between Jenson Button representing England, and David Coulthard racing for Scotland.

[Source: Race of Champions]