ROC top competition decides winner at Bird's Nest

Beijing hosted the some of the world's top racing drivers in a contest to decide who's number one Wednesday night. The racers put their skills and reputations on the line inside one of the world's iconic sports venues, and produced a winner among all-time greats at the 2009 Race of Champions.

Tony Perkins from CCTV, says, "The world's best racing drivers are running in a very historic place. The Bird's Nest Olympic stadium, transformed into a closed-circuit test track. Only it's not the cars, but the drivers whose skills will be put to the test tonight in the final round of the 2009 Race of Champions. Let's check it out."

The Bird's Nest follows other iconic stadiums as host of the Race of Champions. Organizers began this event in 1988 and ran it for several years in the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain. Then, the race moved to Paris and the Stade de France five years ago. London's Wembley Stadium hosted the event each of the past two years. Beijing is the event's first ever trip outside Europe.

Frederick Johnsson, the organizer of the Race of Champions, says, "We had offers from basically all over the world and from incredible stadiums. But when the choice came up to have it in the Birds' Nest just a year after the Olympics, the decision became very, very easy."

Building a track that fits inside a football stadium isn't easy. A team of 40 people worked 4,500 man-hours to get the Bird's Nest asphalt layout ready for racing. The crew created a 2-lane parallel circuit, just over one kilometer long. The drivers must each negotiate a combination of fast curves and slow corners one-on-one. A crossover pattern takes them through each lane twice and returns them to the start-finish line to complete each lap side-by-side.

Frederick Johnsson, the organizer of the Race of Champion, says, "The important thing about the Race of Champions is that it is all about drivers' skills. Always two identical cars on the line, and they are cars that the drivers enjoy driving, and the crowd enjoys watching."

The event started Tuesday night with a group stage. The drivers with the most wins advanced to a Wednesday night quarterfinal knockout round. Then it's on to the semifinals in a series of head-to-head matchups. Finally, the last two drivers face each other in a best-of-three race showdown to decide the winner.