Race of Champions
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The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula 1, Rallying, NASCAR, Le Mans and Touring Cars compete against each other, going head-to-head in identical cars.
The race was first organised in 1988 by former rally driver Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnsson, the IMP (International Media Productions) President. Originally it featured the world's best rally drivers, but has since expanded to include top competitors from most of the world's premier motorsport disciplines, including motorbike racing.
The top individual overall in The Race of Champions is given the title, "Champion of Champions" and receives the Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy, but within the event there is also a competition for individual countries.
The "ROC Nations Cup" was added in 1999. In this event, teams compete in pairs or trios for their country in a head-to-head, best-of-three knockout event.
The event has taken place in several venues, but most recently has been held in major sporting stadiums. After three years based at the Stade de France in Paris, the event moved to the new Wembley Stadium in London in 2007. Wembley has been confirmed as the host for the 2008 event, which will take place on Sunday December 14th 2008. After feedback from fans following the 2007 event, organisers have reduced ticket prices for this year.
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[edit] Overview
The format changes slightly from year to year but in the 2007 event the participating drivers were grouped into eight two-person teams based on their nationality.
Prior to The Race of Champions itself these eight teams compete in 'The ROC Nations Cup' where a team advances by going head-to-head with another country's team and winning two races out of three. The advancing team then goes through the semi-finals and super-finals, by which time only two teams remain.
In the main event - 'The Race of Champions' itself - the individuals compete head-to-head in one race around the track, with the winner advancing and the loser getting knocked out. Similar to the national race, the drivers are gradually eliminated until two reach the super-final.
In both The ROC Nations Cup and The Race of Champions the super-final consists of three runs. The team or driver that achieves two victories first wins.
[edit] Cars
The cars used in The Race of Champions are mandated by the race organisation and vary from year to year. Prior to each run, a type of car is assigned to both of the drivers, with each machine being identical in every respect. Over the course of the event, each driver may get to drive several different cars.
As of 2007, there were 5 cars selected. These ranged from a ROC specific dune buggy, a high power sports car, a World Rally Car, a large touring car (with 3.5 litre engine) and a Super 2000 specification saloon. The actual cars used varies, but generally fall into one of the five categories above.
[edit] 2008
The 2008 Race Of Champions event will take place at Wembley Stadium, London on the 14th December 2008. The following drivers have confirmed their participation in the event:
Team Germany: Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel
Autosport Team Great Britain: Jenson Button, Andy Priaulx
Team Australia: Mark Webber, Troy Bayliss
Team France: Sebastien Loeb
Team Scandanavia: Tom Kristensen, Mattias Ekstrom
[edit] 2007
The 2007 Race Of Champions took place on 16th December at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
The ROC Nations' Cup took place at the start of the afternoon and was won by Germany over Finland.
The individual event followed and the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy was won by Mattias Ekström of Sweden, beating Michael Schumacher of Germany in the final.
The confirmed lineup was:
[edit] 2006
The 2006 Race of Champions took place on December 16 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The Nations' Cup was competed first and the event was won by Finland, with Heikki Kovalainen beating United States' Travis Pastrana on the final round. Kovalainen's team mate was the two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm, whereas Pastrana drove all the rounds for the US team, after both Jimmie Johnson and his replacement, Scott Speed, had to withdraw from competing due to injuries (Johnson had a non-racing related injury).
The individual event and the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy was won by Mattias Ekström of Sweden. He beat Heikki Kovalainen by 0.0002 seconds in the semi-finals, and then defending champion, Sébastien Loeb of France, in the finals.
The lineup was:
* - As Jimmie Johnson, and later replacement Scott Speed were both injured and a replacement could not be found. Pastrana raced all rounds for the team.
** - As Jenson Button could not race due to two cracked ribs.
[edit] 2005
The 2005 event took place on December 3 again at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The individual event was won by Sébastien Loeb after Tom Kristensen crashed out of the final, and The ROC Nations Cup event was won by Tom Kristensen and Mattias Ekström representing Scandinavia.
Changes from the past included a number of wildcard drivers, the use of the Porsche 911 GT3 instead of the Ferrari 360 and the introduction of the Renault Mégane alongside the Citroën Xsara World Rally Car and now traditional "ROC Buggy" as competition cars.
The drivers that took part were:
| Country | Racing Driver | Rally Driver |
|---|---|---|
| France | Jean Alesi | Sébastien Loeb |
| USA | Jeff Gordon | Travis Pastrana |
| Great Britain | David Coulthard | Colin McRae |
| Finland | Heikki Kovalainen | Marcus Grönholm |
| Brazil | Felipe Massa | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
| Scandinavia | Tom Kristensen | Mattias Ekström |
| Benelux | Christijan Albers | Francois Duval |
| Team Playstation France | Sébastien Bourdais | Stéphane Peterhansel |
| Germany | Bernd Schneider | Armin Schwarz |
| Wildcard - ROC | Dan Wheldon | Daniel Sordo |
[edit] 2004
The 2004 event took place on December 6 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
The individual event was won by Heikki Kovalainen, and the team event by Jean Alesi and Sébastien Loeb representing France.
There was also a special "World Champions Challenge" race held between 2004 Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and 2004 World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb, which Schumacher won.
Drivers that took part are:
| Country | Racing Driver | Rally Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Felipe Massa | Tony Kanaan |
| Finland | Heikki Kovalainen | Marcus Grönholm |
| France | Jean Alesi | Sébastien Loeb |
| France (Team PlayStation) | Sébastien Bourdais | Stéphane Sarrazin |
| Germany | Michael Schumacher | Armin Schwarz |
| Great Britain | David Coulthard | Colin McRae |
| Sweden | Kenny Bräck | Mattias Ekström |
| USA | Casey Mears* | Jimmie Johnson |
* - Casey Mears was a last-minute substitute for Jeff Gordon, who was hospitalized with the flu and told not to participate in this event by doctors while at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City that week.
[edit] History
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
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