Motorsport has a range of champions, just as we have a range of sports. You have your Hamilton in F1 and your Giovanardi in BTCC. So, how do you know who’s really the fastest when they race across different sports? The Race of Champions of course!
Created in 1988 by IMP (International Media Productions) President Fredrik Johnsson and the world’s best female rally driver, Michele Mouton, the ROC remains the only opportunity for drivers to race in exactly the same cars and on a parallel track.
The premise is simple: using identical equipment and track, drivers can prove themselves based on their talent alone.
In 2008, sixteen drivers will compete in a series of knockout heats in their own division to determine their class champion. Then, in a shoot-out to determine who is the master of motorsport, the winners from the two divisions will go head-to-head in a super final.
The winner is rewarded with the title “The Champion of Champions”.
Now in its 21st year, the ROC boasts a list of past winners that reads like the “who’s who of racing”. DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom created a huge surprise when he beat homecrowd favourite Sébastien Loeb at Stade de France in 2006 and then again last year at Wembley when he defeated Michael Schumacher. Loeb, the 5-time World Rally Champion, had taken the title in 2005. The above join a distinguished group that includes world rally champions Juha Kankkunen, Stig Blomqvist, Didier Auriol, Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Marcus Gronholm.
In 2004 Heikki Kovalainen, the Nissan World Series Champion that year, surprised everybody by winning against all the established stars. After beating seven-times Formula 1 Champion Michael Schumacher, the young Finn celebrated by jumping up and down on the red Ferrari! He then went on to beat Sebastien Loeb in the ROC Super-Final to take the “Champion of Champions” title.
In 2003, Sebastien Loeb ended his season on a high note by winning a re-match of the 2002 ROC final, beating Finland’s two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm. Loeb defeated Gronholm two heats to nil, both victories achieved by little more than a car length.
This year’s Race of Champions takes place on Sunday 14th December.
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