The Race of Champions will move to the National Stadium in Beijing in November for the 2009 season-ending spectacle, organizers announced on Thursday.

It will become the first major international sporting event since last year's Olympics to held in the 91,000-seat stadium, better known as the "Bird's Nest" for its giant latticework structure of metal girders.

It is also the first time that the motor sport event is held outside Europe in its 22-year history.

"We received exciting proposals from five world-class stadia, but after the incredible Olympics last year, Beijing's candidacy was difficult to ignore," president of event organizers IMP FredikJohnsson said.

"The Bird's Nest venue is awesome and having spent the last five years at two of Europe's biggest stadiums, we are thrilled about the opportunity to take The Race of Champions to Asia for the first time, to another of the world's most iconic sporting arenas."

This year's spectacle will be a two-day program, with the Nations Cup and individual Race of Champions events split. Event organizers have brought the date of the race forward from its traditional December weekend to November 3 and 4, two days after the end of the formula one season in Abu Dhabi.

(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2009)