The Race of Champions (ROC)

Who is the fastest?! It is decided each year at The Race of Champions where the world’s best circuit racers and off-road drivers compete head-to-head.

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 2007, eighteen drivers will compete in a series of knockout heats in their own division to determine their class champion. Then, in a shootout 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”.

History

The first edition of the Race of Champions, held in Paris in 1988, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the World Championship for Rally Drivers gathering all the official World Rally Champions in a competition on identical cars. The event was held in memory of the late Henri Toivonen, who died at the Corsica rally while leading the world championship in 1986. The Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy is still awarded to the winner of the individual Race of Champions.

The Race of Champions was originally conceived as the ultimate shoot-out between the best international rally stars. But experts from other disciplines have given the rally boys more than just a run for their money over the years. They include MotoGP's Valentino Rossi, seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen, four-time NASCAR Champ Jeff Gordon, seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, Renault F1’s Heikki Kovalainen and Audi’s Swedish DTM Champion Mattias Ekstrom.

Recent form

Now in its 20th 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. Loeb, the 4-time World Rally Champion, had taken the title in 2005 following after Heikki Kovalainen who beat both Loeb and Michael Schumacher when he claimed the ROC title in 2004. They 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 over all the established stars. After beating seven-time 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.

In 2002, World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm got the edge on the WRC's hottest young star Sebastien Loeb by a nose length in the third and decisive final.

In 2001, first-timer Harri Rovanpera defeated Armin Schwarz to take the title and, in the year previous, Tommi Mäkinen defeated Marcus Gronholm in an all-Finnish affair.