2001: overview

2001 Canary Islands

roc winner
Harri Rovanpera
roc finalist
Armin Schwarz
roc 1/2-finalists
Duval and A. Mc Rae
nations cup
Spain (J.puras/F.Alonso/R.Xaus)
nations cup finalists
All Stars(H.Rovanpera/T.Kristensen/T.Bayliss)

overview

ROC The tenth consecutive Michelin Race of Champions to be held on Gran Canaria saw first-time entry Harri Rovanpera scoop the spoils by defeating Germany’s Armin Schwarz in Sunday’s closely fought final, by two heats to one.
Earlier, the impressive Finn had ended the determined charge of Francois Duval in the semi-finals, having already accounted for top seed, Marcus Gronholm, in the quarter-final.

Schwarz had also done well to earn his place in the final showdown, having first seen off the lightning fast, NASCAR star, Robbie Gordon and then put an end to Alister McRae’s unblemished record at the semi-final stage.

ROC Prior to Sunday’s finale, the competitive action got underway in dramatic style in Saturday’s ROC Nations Cup. The group stages and knock-out rounds produced no end of thrills and spills, reaching a tumultuous crescendo when the Spanish team (Jesus Puras, Ruben Xaus and Fernando Alonso) defeated the All-Stars (Harri Rovanpera, Troy Bayliss and Tom Kristensen) in the final, to send the 25,000 strong home crowd into raptures.

Also on Saturday, the young and the old of world rallying took to the stage in the first ever Junior Rally Masters competition and the ROC Legends. Stig Blomqvist has made the Legends title his own, winning for the fourth year in succession with consummate ease. The Junior competition was much tighter however, with a final contested between two of the future talents of the WRC, France’s Sebastien Loeb and Belgium’s Francois Duval. The battle we are sure to see again and again in years to come was on this occasion won by the 20-year-old Duval.