Race of Champions

The cars used in The Race Of Champions 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 will get to drive several different cars.

In 2012, the cars selected for the Race Of Champions included a ROC Car buggy, the KTM X-Bow, the Audi R8 LMS, the Lamborghini Gallardo SuperTrofeo, the VW Scirocco R-Cup and the NASCAR European Stock Car.

The first-ever Race of Champions was held in 1988 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry near Paris, in memory of Henri Toivonen, who died while leading the 1986 Tour de Corse, and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the world championship for rally drivers.[1]

The inaugural cast included all the eight world rally champions from 1979 to 1988; Björn Waldegård, Walter Röhrl, Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist, Timo Salonen, Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion. The final was a battle between two "Flying Finns", in which Kankkunen beat Salonen to become the first "Champion of Champions". The cars used at the first event were Audi Quattro S1, BMW M3, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, Lancia Delta Integrale, Opel Manta 400 and Peugeot 205 Turbo 16.[2]

The following years saw new events in addition to the main race. The International Rally Masters, started in 1990, was designed to offer the season's best drivers, who were yet to win a championship title, the chance to win a spot in the main Race of Champions. The Classic Rally Masters, first contested in 1994, was a "historic" Race of Champions competed with pre-1965 Porsche 911s. These two events have since been discontinued.

There were one-off appearances at the Nürburgring, Barcelona and Madrid, since 1989 till 1991.

The event found a permanent home for the next 12 years at the Ciudad Deportiva Islas Canarias venue on Gran Canaria starting from 1992. It was during this period that the emphasis on rally champions faded, as evidenced by victories for Andrea Aghini and François Delecour, neither of whom had won a WRC title. The Nations' Cup was introduced in 1999, bringing in circuit racing drivers and motorcyclists to the event for the first time, with 2001 marking the first time that non-rally drivers were eligible to compete for the main title.

2003 was the last time the event would be held on Gran Canaria, the event switching to stadium-based tracks from 2004. The change from gravel to tarmac circuits saw rally drivers lose their dominance, and by 2007 only a handful of rally drivers were present, with the majority made up of circuit racing drivers from F1, touring cars and sportscars.

2004 surprise winner Heikki Kovalainen driving a Solution F Prototype at the 2007 event.

The 2004 Race of Champions took place on December 6 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The individual event was won by Heikki Kovalainen, the first non-rally driver to win the crown, and the Nations' Cup 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.

Sébastien Loeb won his second title in 2005.

The 2005 event took place on December 3. The individual event was won by Sébastien Loeb after Tom Kristensen crashed out of the final, and the Nations' Cup event was won by Tom Kristensen and Mattias Ekström representing Scandinavia.

2006 winner Mattias Ekström demonstrating his DTM car at the 2007 event.

The 2006 event took place on December 16. 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 teammate 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.

The individual event and the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy was won by Mattias Ekström of Sweden. He beat Kovalainen by 0.0002 seconds in the semi-finals, and then defending champion, Sébastien Loeb of France, in the finals.

The 16 competitors line up before the start of the event.

The 2007 Race of Champions took place on December 16 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. The 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 2008 event took place on December 14. Germany retained their Nations' Cup title by beating the Scandinavian team in the final, while Sébastien Loeb overcame the recently retired F1 stalwart David Coulthard to win the individuals' event.

The 2009 Race of Champions took place in Beijing's National Stadium on November 3–4. For the first time, regional finals were held to help determine the competitors for the Nations' Cup, with Monaco earning the right to compete in the main event after beating teams from Italy, Spain and Portugal at an event held in Porto on June 6–7.

Germany beat Great Britain to win the Nations' Cup for the third successive time, with Mattias Ekström beating Michael Schumacher to claim the individual title in a re-run of the 2007 final.

The 2010 Race of Champions took place in Düsseldorf's Esprit Arena on November 27–28.[3] Germany retained their Nations' Cup crown in front of their home crowd, once again beating Great Britain, while Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque was a surprise winner of the individual event after beating newly crowned F1 champion Sebastian Vettel in the semi-final and Sébastien Loeb in the final.

The 2011 event was due to take place in Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena on December 3–4,[4] but after Eintracht Frankfurt's relegation to German football's Second Division, the stadium could no longer host the event on those dates.[5] The Race of Champions was held in the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf, just as in 2010.[6]

Germany secured their fifth successive Nations' Cup title, beating the Nordic team in the final, while up-and-coming rally star Sébastien Ogier beat Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen in the final to clinch the individual crown.

The 2012 Race of Champions took place on December 14–16 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.[7] The individual Race Of Champions was won by Lotus F1 driver Romain Grosjean, who beat Tom Kristensen in the final. The Nations' Cup was won for the sixth consecutive time by Germany after overcoming France in the final.

The 2012 edition was the first to include a ROC Asia competition, with teams from host nation Thailand, India, China and Japan battling for two spots in the ROC Nations Cup and individual seats in the actual Race Of Champions.

The 2013 event was due to take place on the December 14–15 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, but was canceled due to political unrest in Bangkok.[8]

The 2014 Race of Champions was held in Barbados at the Bushy Park circuit on December 13–14.[9] This was the first time that the event was held in North America. The individual Race Of Champions was won by 13 times F1 race winner David Coulthard, who beat Mercedes F1 test driver and youngest ever DTM race winner Pascal Wehrlein in the final. The Nations' Cup was won by Team Nordic's Tom Kristensen and Petter Solberg overcoming Team Great Britain's David Coulthard and Susie Wolff in the final.

The 2014 included a ROC Caribbean competition, with teams from host nation Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago battling for two spots in the ROC Nations Cup and individual seats in the actual Race Of Champions.

In 2015 Race of Champions returned to London and was staged at London Stadium in Stratford. The ROC Nations Cup was held on Friday 20 November and the Race of Champions on Saturday 21 November.

Drivers included four times Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel, nine times 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and FIA World Rallycross Championship winner Petter Solberg. The ROC Nations Cup was won by Team England 1 consisting of Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx, while Sebastian Vettel was crowned Champion of Champions.

The 2017 Race of Champions was held at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida, on January 21–22. This was the Second time that the event was held in North America. Fifteen drivers from six nations competed at the 2017 ROC. Drivers included 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch, and former Indy 500 Champion Juan Pablo Montoya, who each participated in their first ROC.[10]

Juan Pablo Montoya was crowned the Champion of Champions after defeating Tom Kristensen, while Sebastian Vettel won the Nations Cup for Team Germany after teammate Pascal Wehrlein did not compete in the Nations Cup after suffering an accident during the Champion of Champions event the day prior. Team USA drivers Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch were the runners up for the Nations Cup.

The 2018 Race of Champions was held at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, becoming the first international motorsports event to be held in Saudi Arabia.[11]

The 2019 Race of Champions was held at the Foro Sol in Mexico City, becoming the third Race of Champions to be held in North America.