Norway victorious in the Nations Cup

Like a taste of Rally from Sweden, drivers from the four corners of the world came to compete. On a circuit reduced by half, due to a sudden thaw of the Baltic Sea, the ROC Nations Cup took place under a Swedish sun. Each round took place in four runs, so that each driver faced his two opponents. It was therefore necessary to win at least three runs to advance to the next stage or beat the opposing team in cumulative time. As for the cars, four pairs of vehicles were used: Polaris Pro XP, RX SuperCar Lites, RX2-e (electric), FC1 Porsche 718 Cayman G4. They were also drawn for each round, and all the drivers had the same cars. 

First to try their hand at the ice circuit, the Latin America team met the USA team. While Germany faced the team made up of the winners of the virtual race which took place the day before. Big battles on the Americas side while the SimRacer performance surprised everyone, but Mick Schumacher saved the Germanic team from elimination. On the side of the new continent, the United States emerged victorious.

France did not pass the quarters

In the quarter-finals, everything was very quick. Germany was eliminated by the United States despite a record from Mick Schumacher. For the England/Finland duel, some great battles fascinated the public as well as the other pilots. The former pair of McLaren, Coultard/Häkkinen found themselves rivals. In the end, it was the Finn with more than a second ahead who won the race. At their teammate, Emma Kimiläinen replacing Bottas finally withdrawn, the rivalry was short-lived, as Jamie Chadwick crashed at the first corner with the Porsche – the most difficult car to drive. For the quarter-final between Norway and Sweden, the Solberg family easily won three victories to one.  

Sébastien Loeb during the Nations CUP ©ROC

Team France, despite a renowned team (Sébastien Loeb and Didier Auriol), did not last long against Team Nordic. An unprecedented 3-1 victory, Loeb's victory on the last run was not enough for the French to enter the last four. “I lacked driving, judged Didier Auriol. The first run went well, I was only a second behind, but I was too stressed for my second pass”.

For the semi-finals, Team USA faced Team Finland and Norway faced Team Nordic. Johnson set the level from the first run with more than 5,49 seconds ahead of his rival. Despite a victory for Hakkinen, Johnson and Herta are the first drivers to qualify for the Nations Cup finals. Norway, for its part, had more difficulty winning. 2-2, the place in the final was decided on the clock. Thanks to the performances of Oliver Solberg, the Scandinavian country advanced to the final. For this final round, it was imperative to achieve three run victories. In Polaris, a technical problem for Johnson gave Petter Solberg an easy point. In the electric race, his son won against Colton Herta. 2-0 for Norway. The third run on La Posche promised to be more difficult. Johnson won and came back to score. For the match point, the recent winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in LM P2 hit a wall of snow which delayed him and Norway won.

History at #ROCSweden!

Father and his duo @Petter_Solberg and @OliverSolberg01 are bringing the ROC Nations Cup to Norway! 🇳🇴🇳🇴👏

It's a ROC debut win for Oliver, and a second Nations Cup for Petter. But you can imagine which win will mean the most. 🥺 pic.twitter.com/FO90WupPxM

- Race Of Champions (@RaceOfChampions) February 5, 2022

After this historic victory for Norway in the Nations Cup, this Sunday will take place the individual event of the Race of Champion to award the title of champion of champions. See you from 12 p.m. on Canal+Décalé.