Sebastien Loeb beats Sebastian Vettel to win individual Race of Champions event, as Team Norway took the Nations Cup glory in Sweden.
Individual:
France’s world rally legend Sébastien Loeb put in a stunning performance to eclipse 17 fellow superstars of motorsport and win the 2022 Race Of Champions – on a day of non-stop action on the frozen Baltic Sea at Sweden’s Pite Havsbad, just 60 miles from the Arctic Circle. Following Team Norway’s triumph in yesterday’s ROC Nations Cup, all cooperation went out of the window today.
The individual Race Of Champions pitted some of the world’s greatest drivers head-to-head on ROC’s iconic parallel track, purpose built on ice for the first time. After an unprecedented tidal surge saw yesterday’s racing take place on just the inner half of the track, today the drivers could let rip on the full circuit featuring ROC’s famous crossover bridge.
On an afternoon of heavy snow at Pite Havsbad, the Race Of Champions saw greats of global motorsport battling it out for glory in a mix of identical machinery – including the FIA RX2e electric rallycross car, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, off-road Polaris RZR PRO XP and the 100% fossil-free biofuel powered SuperCar Lites. In front of packed crowds of Swedish fans braving the cold, the best-of-five Grand Final boiled down to a duel between a pair of true legends: nine-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb and four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel.
After a thrilling finale as both drivers pushed to the limit in the blizzard, Loeb saw off his German rival by three heats to one to be crowned ROC Champion of Champions for the fourth time. He thus equals the all-time record set by Didier Auriol, his partner for Team France in yesterday’s ROC Nations Cup.
Loeb said: “It’s been a long time since I was last at the Race Of Champions, so I’m happy to find out that at 47 years of age I still have the pace! This adds to my good start to the season: second in the Dakar Rally, first in Monte Carlo and now a victory here at ROC. It wasn’t easy for us to go up against all the Swedish and Norwegian guys because they are more used to these conditions.
“I also knew it would be tough adapting between the Porsche, buggy and rallycross cars. But after I made it through against Petter Solberg I got more confidence with each run. It was a nice fight with Seb in the final and I had a good feeling – except for when I completely lost control of the car in the third heat! Now here we are, and it’s great to equal Didier’s record of four ROC Champion of Champions titles.
“We also need to congratulate the Fredrik Johnsson and the ROC organisers who have done a great job all week in difficult circumstances. They had to deal with a practice track that sailed off towards Finland, a snowstorm during practice and a rising sea. But everyone kept up a great mood and a positive attitude, with no stress, always finding solutions. And they found it.”
Vettel added: “Sébastien was just too fast today. The conditions were tricky out there and it was getting more and more slippery, which I guess is normal for snow and ice! I don’t have that much experience so it was a struggle to adapt; in my day job getting sideways is what we try to avoid. But I felt I was improving every time I drove.
“That’s a good sign, but also a sign that I still have a lot to learn. Yesterday was a short day because I let Team Germany down and we went out very quickly, but today I could get more into the groove. I knew the final was a big stretch and I maybe pushed too hard, but I knew I had to go for it to be close to Seb. l made mistakes here and there, so in these conditions I have a bit of catching up to do…
“We’ve missed two years of the Race Of Champions so it’s great to be back and to have a sense of normality. I’ve really enjoyed coming here on a different surface too, and it’s special to be on Fredrik’s home soil. It’s great to have the fans back too and I’m impressed to see so many people in the crowds. I don’t know how they can stand the cold and the wind in their face, but they seemed happy and up for it! Now I hope we can come back to Sweden again.”
To reach the Grand Final Loeb and Vettel had to see off a field featuring 18 of the world’s greatest drivers. Because the track conditions on snow and ice can change quickly depending on the weather, ROC’s traditional group stage did not take place. Instead this year’s Race Of Champions used a straight knockout system with the field split into two halves: one featured the international racing drivers while the other had the rally experts and those with more experience of off-road driving.
At the best-of-three semi-final stage Vettel beat nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen 2-0 to take bragging rights in the racing drivers’ half of the draw, though the Dane was hampered by a mechanical problem in the first heat. On the rally side, Loeb finished on top of the pile having brought an end to a spirited run by double DTM Champion and FIA World Rallycross Champion Mattias Ekström, who was the last Swedish driver standing in front of his home fans. The match went to a deciding third heat, won by the Frenchman.
The quarter-finals, which were decided over two heats, saw many big names bite the dust – not least seven-time NASCAR Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson, who lost to Kristensen. IndyCar’s youngest ever race winner Colton Herta was the other racing driver who went out, beaten by Vettel on countback of fastest times after a 1-1 tie. On the rally side Loeb saw off rising WRC star Oliver Solberg after a match in which one of their races finished in a dead heat, to the nearest thousandth of a second.
The other driver exiting at this stage was four-time FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson, who lost to Ekström despite winning their first race heat by just one hundredth of a second. The Round of 16 was another graveyard for motorsport’s superstars. In the racing half of the draw, double F1 World Champion Mika Hakkinen went out at the hands of Johnson while his long-time McLaren F1 team-mate David Coulthard was defeated by Kristensen.
Double W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick and this year’s W Series runner-up Emma Kimilainen also left the competition at this stage, beaten by Herta and Vettel respectively. The rally side of the draw was just as brutal. FIA World Rally and World Rallycross Champion Petter Solberg couldn’t find a way past Loeb so there was to be no repeat of yesterday’s ROC Nations Cup glory. His fellow World Rallycross Champion Timmy Hansen had to accept defeat by Kristoffersson after crashing out, while four-time ROC Champion of Champions Didier Auriol fell to Ekström. Mexico’s reigning ROC Champion of Champions Benito Guerra was another of the early casualties after being beaten by Oliver Solberg.
Kicking off the afternoon’s action, four of the racing drivers were matched up in pairs for two Round 1 play-offs. Germany’s FIA F2 and F3 Champion Mick Schumacher was defeated by Chadwick while four-time Indy 500 Winner Helio Castroneves also had to bid an early goodbye after falling to Herta. The Brazilian ace was later seen relaxing in style in the ROC Drivers’ Lounge after declaring he and snow ‘don’t mix’.
Ahead of the main action, the home fans were given a treat as four sporting legends took place in a celebrity race in the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. The field featured tennis great Jonas Björkman plus Olympic skiing gold medallists Ingemar Stenmark, Anja Pärson and Aksel Lund Svindal, who was the only Norwegian taking on three Swedes on their home turf.
In the end it was Lund Svindal who came out on top, beating Stenmark in the final by just 0.8 seconds. The skiing great thus added to his home country’s amazing run of success here this weekend following Petter and Oliver Solberg’s triumph for Team Norway in the ROC Nations Cup yesterday. This year’s Race Of Champions has raised over 1 million SEK (€100,000) towards a selection of worthwhile charities. The key recipients have included German children’s charity Kinderlachen, the Zelmerlöw and Björkman Foundation’s school in Kenya, the ICM (institute for advanced research on brain and spinal cord injuries in Paris) plus a range of the drivers’ other favourite charities.
Nations Cup:
Team Norway’s father-and-son duo of world rally aces Petter and Oliver Solberg are celebrating after they took a stunning family victory in the ROC Nations Cup on the ice of Sweden’s Pite Havsbad. On a sunny afternoon on the frozen Baltic Sea just 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, legends from the world’s biggest motor sport series teamed up in pairs to battle for national and regional pride.
They raced a mix of cars including the FIA RX2e electric rallycross car, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport,100% fossil-free biofuel powered SuperCar Lites and the off-road Polaris RZR PRO XP. Overnight flooding at Pite Havsbad following an unprecedented tidal surge meant today’s action took place on just the inner half of ROC’s iconic parallel track, which has been purpose built on ice for the first time. The racing adopted a pursuit format similar to one first used at ROC 2015 at London’s Olympic Stadium.
And what a festival of icy action it was – as FIA World Rally and World Rallycross Champion Petter Solberg and his rising WRC star son Oliver Solberg prevailed in the final against the might of Team USA. In the first heat Petter beat off the challenge of seven-time NASCAR Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson, who suffered a mechanical problem. Oliver then defeated IndyCar’s youngest race winner Colton Herta before he jumped straight into the Porsche for the next heat – with four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel in the passenger seat.
That’s when Johnson hit back with a win of his own, forcing the match into a fourth heat. But Petter struck the decisive blow with victory over Herta, sealing the ROC Nations Cup final for Team Norway. Afterwards a delighted Petter Solberg said: “It’s unbelievable. I got my motivation when I saw Sébastien Loeb winning the Monte Carlo Rally last month and I thought: ‘it can’t be so difficult.’ So I was so ready for this race – and to do it together with Oliver is a big dream.
“The Race Of Champions has been so special for many years. It’s so much fun to be with all these guys: everyone has had so much success in their careers yet they are so friendly. Oliver has been flying around like a yoyo all week because he’s been so excited. When you are 20, that’s how it is. So I must say thank you to Fredrik, Jessie and everyone working behind the scenes. It’s a fantastic atmosphere and I’m very thankful to have a chance to come here.
“The conditions out there were hard for everybody today, but the race organisers did a brilliant job to find a solution. On the snow you get a slushy feeling, like floating. So it’s about not making mistakes. I was nervous about racing with Oliver but when you can do something like this with your son and see the happiness when he does well, it’s great. He did a very good job, and actually raced better than me. But by the final I was really pumped up. Jimmie’s run in the Porsche was very impressive and I knew I had to be at my best to beat these guys, but we did it.”
Oliver Solberg added: “This is crazy! I’m shocked because doing this together as father and son is very emotional. We had fantastic teamwork and it shows we work well together. It’s been a dream come true to come to the Race Of Champions with all the legends who I look up to, like Jimmie. There are so many stars here and so much experience to take in. They’re all so humble and nice to me so it’s been a fun time, then when we come to the track it’s serious.
“Today I was only really happy with one run, my race against Johan Kristoffersson. I knew he was fast in the Porsche so that was my most nervous moment, but I had a perfect run and I beat him. Then I tried to drive the same against Jimmie but he was much faster than me. I had Sebastian Vettel in the car with me so I thought: ‘If I don’t win I’ll look stupid.’ Then I lost. So I need to find some more speed for tomorrow, but it’s been an awesome day and it’s fantastic to be standing here at the end.”
Beaten finalists Team USA also had a fine afternoon’s work, but they narrowly missed out on bringing home the trophy. Because the track conditions on snow and ice can change quickly depending on the weather, ROC’s traditional group stage did not take place. Instead this year’s ROC Nations Cup used a straight knockout system. To make it as fair as possible, races were decided over four heats, with each driver racing against both drivers from the other team. For matches tied 2-2, the team with the best total time made it through.
Team Finland’s Mika Hakkinen and Emma Kimilainen did well to make it all the way to the semi-finals, before they were finally defeated 3-1 by Team USA. Double F1 world champion Hakkinen did take a solitary win but it was not enough to progress. Team Nordic (‘Mr Le Mans’ Tom Kristensen and World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson) also reached the semi-finals. They both won a heat in an exciting 2-2 draw with Team Norway before they were beaten on a countback of fastest times.
There were some huge stars of global motorsport who went out in the quarter-finals, including the might of Team Germany (Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher) who were defeated by Team USA on a countback of fastest lap times after a 2-2 draw. Another casualty at this stage was Team GB’s David Coulthard and Jamie Chadwick, who fell to Team Finland.
All four drivers won a race apiece for another 2-2 draw but Hakkinen had the last say by beating his old McLaren F1 team-mate Coulthard in the final heat, with enough of a margin to go through. Team France’s pair of World Rally Championship legends Sébastien Loeb and Didier Auriol fell to a 3-1 defeat by Team Nordic, despite a win for Loeb over Kristensen.
To the dismay of the home fans packing the venue, Team Sweden’s Mattias Ekström and Timmy Hansen also went out in the quarter-finals. They were beaten 3-1 in an all Scandinavian battle with Team Norway, even though Ekström did take a consolation win against Oliver Solberg. The afternoon’s action began with two Round 1 play-offs.
Team Latin America (Helio Castroneves and Benito Guerra) were the first team to go out after a tight battle with Team USA. Reigning ROC Champion of Champions Guerra won both his races as it finished 2-2, but they went out on a countback of fastest laps. Team eROC All Stars (Jarno Opmeer and Lucas Blakeley) were the other pairing to bid an early farewell after a 3-1 defeat by Team Germany.
But that was not before Blakeley gave himself a story that should earn himself free drinks for life in the pubs of Scotland by defeating Vettel in his first ever race. Before the racing action began the drivers unfurled a banner in conjunction with the institute for advanced research into brain and spinal cord injuries ICM in honour of ROC’s absent friend (and six-time ROC Nations Cup winner) Michael Schumacher as he continues his recovery.
[Note: The above is as per press release with no edits made]
