Petrov becomes ROC’s first Russian driver

Following on from Lotus Renault GP’s third driver and 2011 GP2 series champion Romain Grosjean, Russian Formula 1 star Vitaly Petrov has signed up to compete at the 2011 Race Of Champions in Düsseldorf. Vitaly will become the first driver from Eastern Europe to compete at the event. He joins a star-studded field that includes three F1 world champions for ROC 2011 at Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena on December 3-4.

A podium in this year’s first race in Australia was followed by a string of points finishes to leave Vitaly in the F1 world championship top ten.

That form is all the more impressive given that, unlike most of the F1 field, Vitaly did not learn his race craft in karting. Born in the Russian town of Vyborg, he had no easy access to a local kart track so he began competing in rally sprints and ice racing events. But after winning every race in the 2002 Lada Cup, Vitaly was soon on a more conventional road to the top of motor racing via successful years in GP2. Now he has earned an invitation to compete at the Race Of Champions.

Vitaly said: “It was a great honour to be the first Russian driver in Formula 1 – and now I’m delighted to become the first Russian to compete at the Race Of Champions. I’ve followed the event for a long time and I know that all the drivers claim to be there for fun, while pushing as hard as ever in the cars. I’ve never raced in an event with such a quick turnaround of machinery but perhaps my unusual background in rally sprints and ice racing can help me. I’ll give it my best and see what happens.”

The Race Of Champions is an annual end-of-season competition that brings together the world’s greatest drivers from all motor sport’s disciplines – including Formula 1, world rally, touring cars, Le Mans and the X-Games – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery on a specially constructed parallel track. Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday 3 December, before the individual Race Of Champions takes place on Sunday 4 December.

ROC race organiser Fredrik Johnsson said: “We’re always aiming to expand our horizons at the Race Of Champions so we’re thrilled to have our first Russian driver on board. Vitaly had a great GP2 career and he has carried that over to Formula 1 in the past two years. We look forward to seeing him take on ROC’s best in December.”

Competing alongside Vitaly and Romain will be Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button amongst others.