Schumacher lined up to race at new Wembley

World champion Michael Schumacher could race on a specially laid track at the new National Stadium at Wembley.

Standard Sport can today reveal that if plans being discussed work out, the world's leading race and rally drivers will next year compete at the revamped venue.

The notion that racing cars can be driven at high speed in such a small area may seem absurd. But it has already happened, with great success, at the Stade de France.

Just two months ago more than 62,000 fans packed into the stadium in Paris as Schumacher went head-to-head with star British drivers David Coulthard and Colin McRae in a series of dramatic races.

The Race of Champions saw international driving stars compete two at a time on a figure-of-eight tarmac track, featuring a flyover, laid on special metal plates that protected the stadium's grass surface.

For all his skill behind the wheel of a Formula One Ferrari, Schumacher was eventually beaten by rising Finnish star Heikki Kovalainen following heats in rally cars, Ferrari sports cars and beach buggies. Kovalainen is set to defend his title at the Stade de Paris in December, but the race could move to Wembley in 2006. Fredrick Johnson, the Race of Champions promoter, admitted: "We're looking at it."

A spokesman for Wembley said: "The first event at Wembley will be the FA Cup Final in 2006, but we are looking at a whole range of other attractions outside of the football and rugby league events which are already guaranteed to be at the stadium.

"Motor racing certainly is one of the sports that will be considered."