Vettel, Schumacher in Thai grand prix preview
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Perhaps the biggest motor sports event Thailand has ever seen, the Race of Champions featuring Formula One stars Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher will roar into Rajamangala National stadium in December.
The annual Race of Champions pits top drivers from the world’s premier motor sports competitions – Formula One, the World Rally Championship and Nascar – against one another in identical cars at venues around the world.
Thailand won the right to host the event for two consecutive years starting this year when the two-day competition celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Kanokphand Chulakasem, Sports Authority of Thailand governor, announced at the conference yesterday that current and twotime Formula One champion Vettel and his German compatriot Schumacher, with a record tally of seven F1 titles under his belt, have confirmed their participation in the December 16-17 event.
“Rajamangala will temporarily turn into a racing venue where 50,000 fans can watch cars reaching speeds between 200 and 300kph.
“This year, local fans have the good fortune to watch two world championranked drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher.
“We have set aside a Bt400million budget for the event each year, some from Red Bull, Singha Corporation and other private sector partners.
“We believe the event will boost Thailand’s image internationally and bring huge revenue to the country. We’ll transform Rajamangala into a worldclass track with a Bt10million budget,” said Kanokphand.
The SAT governor further revealed that the negotiations to host a Formula One race in the country are going well.
F1 in Thailand by 2014
“Our discussions with [Formula One CEO] Bernie Ecclestone have gone smoothly. We expect to get rights to host a grand prix from 2014 onwards. The race might be held at night to accommodate viewers in Europe and help earn more in sponsorship.
“Chalerm Yoovidhya, Red Bull team owner, is helping negotiate the hosting fee, which is likely to be about Bt1.2 billion, compared to the Bt2 billion China paid.
“The cost of building a new F1 venue to accommodate 100,000 spectators will be about Bt100 million. We need to finalise the budget before we propose it to the cabinet. We expect the overall budget for hosting an F1 race to be around Bt5 billion,” said Kanokphand.
