Should the Race of Champions be a real World Cup?

Facts : After three years of absence, the Race of Champions made its comeback last weekend. On the Pite Havsad side, in the north of Sweden, drivers from different categories competed for two days as part of the Nations Cup, but also to elect the champion of champions, “Champions of Champions”. Enough to make fans dream of finding names like Sebastian Vettel, Sebastian Loeb, Petter Solberg, Tom Kristensen, David Coulthard and Didier Auriol. It makes you wonder if the ROC should not be a real World Cup.

YES, by Valentin Glo

How to recognize the best driver of the motorsport season? Max Verstappen is certainly the World champion of Formula 1, Sébastien Ogier is that of Rally et Nyck de Vries is in Formula E. But it is impossible to compare their years in such different disciplines. Founded in 1988 by Michèle Mouton and the director of IMP (International Media Productions), Fredrik Johnson, the Race of Champions originally brought together rally drivers, joined a few years later by their circuit counterparts, but it is difficult to talk about 'a real World Cup, because each nation does not field its current best elements. These are not always grouped by nationality, since it is usual to find there, in particular, a team from Scandinavia, or even All Star duos. This is the opportunity to see improbable teams or duels between legends of their discipline like Tom Kristensen against Jimmie Johnson in the quarter-final of this edition.

The organization has established a Nations Cup since 1999, won this year by the Solberg family representing Norway. A formula largely dominated by Germany with eight victories, including six in a row for the pair with 11 world titles in Formula 1, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Many other big names in motorsport have come and still come to the ROC: Sébastian Loeb is the best example, he who has just become the co-record holder of the event by beating Vettel, thus equaling his compatriot Didier Auriol and his 4 titles. 

The current format is pleasant, but watching it this weekend, I couldn't help but imagine the different world champions of the year competing against each other to choose THE 2021 world champion. A nine-time champion of the World of Rallies facing a four-time world winner in F1, this year's vintage could not have dreamed of a better final. So imagine a duel between the reigning champions, a final match between Max Verstappen and Sébastien Ogier. Certainly, some lesser-known names sometimes slip into the list, such as Benito Guerra or Heikki Kovalainen, and such a format would not prevent surprises. But isn’t that the glorious uncertainty of sport? The Race of Champions is not what it is currently, but it could become an unmissable event at the end of the season in this winter trough where fans in need have fun counting the days without Formula 1.

©ROC

NO, by Medhi Casaurang-Vergez 

Be careful not to take the Race of Champions for what it is not! Its location in the heart of winter allows the event to benefit from very flattering media coverage, but not always in accordance with the sporting level it requires. In these times of the Winter Olympic Games, the “ROC” is more of a closing gala in figure skating at the end of the competition that the skaters enter solely to delight the public. The ruthless competition itself takes place beforehand, during the regular seasons of each motorsport discipline. 

Certainly, the poster in the final was salivating, pitting the nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb against the four-time Formula 1 world champion, Sebastian Vettel. The Alsatian emerged victorious, but the playing field (ice and snow) clearly favored the rallymen over the track riders. Moreover, the Race of Champions was initiated in 1988 by Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnson solely for those involved in world rallying, in order to pay tribute to the late Henri Toivonen. 

The ROC prize list always highlights two French rally figures (Loeb and Didier Auriol co-record men with 4 victories each). You only have to see the relaxation with which Sebastian Vettel greeted his defeat, replacing the champagne that refused to come out with jets of snow, to understand that the ROC is seen by its participants above all as a meeting. you fun and relaxed.

Speaking of “champions of champions”, the ROC has not always consecrated sporting legends. In 2004, for his first at the Stade de France (Seine-Saint-Denis), the young Heikki Kovalainen beat Sébastien Loeb and Michael Schumacher. The Finn was then accused of being a “future great” since he had criticized the references of the WRC and F1. The rest of his career proved the opposite (1 success in F1). Apart from a Production-WRC title in 2012, 2019 winner Benito Guerra has a very empty trophy room in his Mexican home. Not to mention the retired consultants who treat themselves once a year (David Coulthard winner in 2018 10 years after his last F1 GP).

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