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Race of Champions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring national teams consisting of racing and rally drivers. The race was organized in 1988 by Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnson. Originally it was organized in memory of Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto.
Every year has featured an individual champion, and many have featured other contests. The top individual wins the Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy and given the title, Champion of Champions.
The Nations Cup was added in 1999. Each nation fields one rally driver and one circuit racer. The second driver often comes from the World Rally Championship, Formula 1, NASCAR, CCWS, IRL, or Grand Prix. In some instances, circuit drivers who have previous off-road or rally experience have represented their countries as rally drivers. In 2002 and 2004, the United States had NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson as a rally driver, as Johnson's championships in auto racing have come as an off-road driver, with titles in SCORE International and CORR off-road racing.
After three years based at the Stade de France in Paris, it was announced on 2006-12-17 that the 2007 event would be held at the new Wembley Stadium in London[1] on 2007-12-16.
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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 winning over 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.
The individual event and the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy was won by Mattias Ekström of Sweden. He won over Kovalainen by 0.0002 seconds in the semi-finals, and then over 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.
** - As Jenson Button could not race due to two cracked ribs.
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 Nations Cup event 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 |
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. Michael eventually 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.)
