NOVEMBER 11, 2004

Massa, Kanaan and Bourdais join Race of Champions cast

The Race of Champions in Paris at the start of December is going to be a star-studded affair with F1 World Champion Michael Schumacher, WRC Champion Sebastien Loeb, NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon, plus former WRC champions Colin McRae and Marcus Gronholm and DTM Champion Matthias Ekstrom all competing to become the champion of champions.

Now they will be joined by IRL Champion Tony Kanaan and Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais plus Sauber F1 driver Felipe Massa. Joining Bourdais in a team to be called Team Playstation France will be the WRC's latest sensation, Stephane Sarrazin, a former F1 driver.

"I think it has to be my aim to beat Michael Schumacher," said Massa. "But it is not just about trying to beat him. There will be some amazing drivers there like Loeb and Jeff Gordon. It's going to be very interesting to drive in the middle of the Stade de France. I say interesting but I have no idea how it is going to be. To be racing for Brazil will be cool. Tony Kanaan is a good friend. We have two open wheel guys so I am not sure how we will do. I hope we can be in the top 3."

France now has two teams with Sebastien Loeb and Jean Alesi being joined by Bourdais and Sarrazin. The other teams announced so far are Germany (Michael Schumacher, Armin Schwarz), USA (Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson), Great Britain (David Coulthard, Colin McRae), Sweden (Kenny Brack, Mattias Ekstrom), Finland (Heikki Kovalainen, Marcus Gronholm) and Brazil (Felipe Massa, Tony Kanaan).