Aussie Rules champion Glenn Archer and women's tennis player Nicole Pratt are the latest Australian sporting legends set to take part in the Fiat 500 Celebrity Challenge race at the Australian GP. Photo: The Fiat 500 Celebrity Challenge car was recently presented in Melbourne.

Aussie Rules champion Glenn Archer and women's tennis player Nicole Pratt are the latest Australian sporting legends set to take part in the Fiat 500 Celebrity Challenge race at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Archer and Pratt will join other AFL superstars, Nathan Buckley and Luke Darcy, together with Wallaby speedster Ben Tune on the Albert Park track from 13 – 16 March.

"I'm just stoked to get the chance to race at Albert Park,” said Archer. “To do so on the same day that Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber will take to the track has got to be most guys' fantasy. I'm sure that Bucks and Darcy will be just as competitive at the Grand Prix as they were on the footy field, but I'm looking forward to giving them a run for their money. With a full Kiss concert once the racing is over, this is going to be a great weekend."

Awarded the ‘Players’ Choice Shinboner’ in 2007, Archer was selected as the player most epitomizing the heart and soul of the Kangaroos Football Club – beating 911 other Kangaroos players for the honour. A fearless defender who intimidated his opponents and inspired his team-mates, Glenn was a vital member of the Kangaroos premiership sides in 1996 and 1999 and won the Norm Smith medal in the 1996 Grand Final. Archer was named in the All-Australian side of 1996, 1998 and 2002. He played 311 games with the Kangaroos Football Club, in a career spanning from 1992 – 2007.

Meanwhile Nicole Pratt is an institution of Australian women's tennis. “I’m so excited,” said Pratt, who played her last match of professional tennis at this year’s Australian Open. “I feel very honoured to have the privilege to be racing alongside some of the biggest names in Australian sport. It’s bound to be extremely competitive given the backgrounds of all those taking part. After so many years on the tennis circuit, it’s great to be able to have the time to do something like this.”

Pratt's retirement comes after she competed in her 50th grand slam tournament and 18th Australian Open. She was a stalwart of Australian Federation Cup teams, not missing a year since 1998. Her best performance in a grand slam was at the Australian Open in 2003 when she reached the fourth round, becoming the first Aussie woman to do so in ten years. Pratt represented Australia at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, losing in the second round, and the 2004 Athens Olympics where she reached the third round.
She will continue her media work with Fox Sports and is looking at making a move into coaching.

More than 20 sporting heroes will take part in this year’s race, coming from a broad range of sports. As well as a big inclusion of Aussie Rules and tennis idols, the line-up will also feature former Olympians, cricketers, an alpine skier and one of the world’s best known surfers. Women will also be well represented, with one of the country’s most loved netballers to be announced in the coming weeks.

The drivers will take to the wheel of the all-new Fiat 500. The car is the most sought after vehicle in Europe, having won numerous awards headed by 2008 European Car of the Year. Australian and New Zealand production has already been snapped up for the first three months of supply, even without prices and specs announced. The introduction of the new car for this year’s celebrity race is one of many fresh innovations announced by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation in recent months, all aimed at ensuring the 2008 event will be the most exciting in its thirteen year history. The ever-popular V8 Supercars will return, racing in an exciting new format will seek to determine once and for all, which is the best – Holden or Ford. Rock legends Kiss will perform a full concert spectacular for all race-goers on Sunday, 16 March.