START YOUR ENGINES: A wide view of the 2009 Race of Champions course at the Beijing National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, on November 2 (GUO YONG)

The 2009 Race of Champions (ROC) took place at the Beijing National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, on November 2-4.

The ROC auto racing competition is a head-to-head tournament where the world's best motorsport stars battle to prove who is the fastest on Earth.

Through a series of races in identical cars on a parallel track, one winner is crowned as the fastest and declared the Champion of Champions. Cars are swapped around between heats to ensure that all drivers prove themselves in a variety of vehicles.

The race came to a dramatic close on November 4 with an unexpected win for Sweden's Mattias Ekstrom, who took home the title after beating 19 of the world's best and brightest drivers including the event favorite, seven-time Formula One (F1) World Champion Michael Schumacher.

On November 2, ex-Williams F1 test driver Dong Hebin won the local competition, earning the honor of representing China in the Nations Cup. Despite a valiant effort that drove Team China to the semi-finals, it wasn't enough to stand up to Team Autosport GB, which advanced to the finals.

In the finals, Team Germany won the ROC Nations Cup.

"This is the first time the ROC has been staged outside Europe," said Zhou Bin, the venue's director of its research and development department.

CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS: Michael Schumacher gets a piggy back from Mattias Ekstrom after Ekstrom won the 2009 ROC title at the Beijing National Stadium, or the Bird's Nest, on November 4 (COURTESY OF ROC)

According to International Media Productions, the company behind the spectacle, five other venues were being considered but Beijing won the right to host the event due to its work during the Olympics.

The Bird's Nest was transformed into a racing circuit to welcome the ROC, with a man-made bridge built especially for the competition.

On November 3, Schumacher lighted the passion of the audience once he showed his face at the stadium.

But the success of a single commercial event like the ROC cannot relieve the financial burden of a daily average of 200,000 yuan ($29,000) to keep the arena running.

"Each time a major event is held at the Bird's Nest, there is pressure to prevent the venue from becoming a white elephant," Zhou said.

Less than two weeks after the one-year anniversary of the opening of the 2008 Olympics, ownership of the stadium was quietly passed to a State-controlled financial institution from private owners. A transition ceremony was attended by Beijing's Vice Mayor and the vice chairman of CITIC Investment Holdings, which previously had full rights over how the stadium would operate commercially.

Zhang Hengli, who quit his position as deputy general manager of the stadium after the transition, told reporters in August that many of the company's plans had gone unfulfilled.

The plans would have included staging commercial activities and running a five-star hotel, as well as a high-end fashion arcade and luxury restaurants with a bird's eye view of the stadium.