Hoy and Hamilton to go head-to-head

14 comments
By BikeRadar | Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008 12.01pm

Britain’s two most successful racers in 2008 – triple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy and Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton – will go head-to-head at Wembley Stadium next month.

On a parallel track, Hamilton will line up in a Mercedes-Benz road car while Hoy takes to his Dolan track bike. Starting side-by-side, the two stars will race around the circuit on a tight and twisty course.

The F1 ace would seem to have the advantage - 600 brake horse power and a top speed of 208mph (334kph), compared with the cyclist's two-and-a-half bhp and 37mph (59kph - his average speed in the Olympic time trial). But Hoy's explosive power should give him a good start and he only has 99kg (218lbs) or man and machine to steer around the hairpin bends, compared with Hamilton's 1450kg (3200lbs).

The event is part of the pre-show entertainment at the annual Race of Champions on Sunday, 14 December. This pits competitors from two and four-wheeled motorsport - F1 stars, superbike champions, NASCAR racers and rally aces - against each other.

Hoy, who won the keirin, team sprint and individual sprint in Beijing, said: “I’m a big motor racing fan and I’ve seen the Race of Champions on TV so to be there in the flesh is going to be great and to be able to compete and take part in it is fantastic. I can kick out about two-and-a-half brake horsepower so that’s not going to quite match his car, but I think they’ll make the race as close as possible and I’ll be giving it absolutely everything. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Hamilton said: “This is going to be something very special. The atmosphere is going to be crazy. It’s going to be a great way to end a fantastic year, and I’m really looking forward to putting on a show to thank the fans from all over the world and my fantastic British fans for all their support."

The Formula One champ will also perform a demonstration run in his championship-winning Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

Fredrik Johnsson, president of event organisers IMP, said: “Ever since we created the Race of Champions 20 years ago, we’ve been putting the greatest racers in the world against each other. With Britain’s fantastic performance in Beijing, especially in cycling, we thought about how we could include that in the event and when Lewis won the F1 World Championship it was just perfect.”

Hamilton and Hoy are both frontrunners in the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year contest which is being staged on the same day. After the race they will head to Liverpool for the awards ceremony.

For tickets to the Race of Champions, call 0844 412 1743 or visit www.raceofchampions.com. Adult prices start at £18 and child tickets at £9. There are also a limited number of hospitality tickets and packages available.

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User Comments

There are 14 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 14 of 14 comments

  • Let''s hope he's got a freewheel on that bike and not the usual fixed track version so he can get round the corners more quickly.

  • 2.5hp! That's simply amazing.

  • Just think, 1 and 1/4 horses in each leg!

  • Top speed of only 37mph for Chris Hoy? Surely that's wrong?

  • Samual Sanchez olyimpic roadrace gold medalist did a similar thing at the begining of last month here in Spain.Racing against a GP2 car, the car had to do 2 lengths to Samual's 1..........Yes the out come was the car won.

    Lets hope Chris doesnt have to stop at a red light...............cause Mr Hamilton has a problem with not knowing the difference between a red light and a green light!!!!!

  • I'm just just glad it's Lewis Hamilton and not Tyler.

  • We've done something similar here in Australia. Mark Webber took on Robbie McEwen.

    Robbie took the win easily in that instance - unfortunately the Red Bull had a 'mechanical' on the first bend.

  • Anyone know if it's going to be on TV?

  • Chris should just draft behind him!

    Really looking forward to this, hope it's on TV.

  • I think that 37mph refers to Chris' AVERAGE speed, which is amazing compared to your average road race of 22-26mph.

  • Oh Wembley what have they done to you?

    No wonder the pitch is so bad, a couple miles of tarmac on it.

    Lovely

    Will they close the roof to keep the carbon monoxide fumes in?

  • 1.he will ride a freewheel.

    2.its not on tv (they wouldnt sell enough tickets if it was)

    3.draft?behind sumthin barely 2 foot tall? doubt it.

    4.chris has about as much chance of beating lewis as he does in beating him in the sports 'personality' of the year award.

  • "3.draft?behind sumthin barely 2 foot tall? doubt it."

    Its going to be a road car according to the article.

    But an F1 car is designed to have huge downforce, the draft you'd get would be terriffic...especially down by your knees!! ;-)

  • Just heard them say that the Hoy vs Hamilton race was called off.

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