Winning Mars, by Jason Stoddard

Clever and fast paced near future sci-fi. After the Chinese have gone to the moon and taken the US flag down and taken the rover back to Shanghai as a souvenir, entertainment producer Jere decides to create a reality show based on winning a race on Mars. Securing funding and sponsorship is one thing, finding the perfect "cast" is another, and governmental interference threatens to shut down the show, but Jere and his girlfriend Patrice- aka Yvette Zero, one of the world's biggest interactive media stars- boldly go ahead with Winning Mars.
Fun read!!!