For the first time in Race of Champions (ROC) history, New Zealand will have a team competing in the Nations Cup, with the country’s most successful rally driver Hayden Paddon the first Kiwi confirmed for the event on March 7-8 in Sydney.
Paddon and one other New Zealander, who is yet to be announced, will go up against superstars from Formula 1, IndyCar, Le Mans, Supercars, World Rally & Rally X on the purpose-built 1-kilometer tarmac track taking centre stage at Accor Stadium, Sydney’s Olympic Stadium, to determine the ‘Champion of Champions’ and ‘the world’s fastest nation’.
“To be part of the Race Of Champions and especially represent the first Team NZ in ROC is a dream come true for me,” said Paddon. “I’ve been watching the Race Of Champions every year since my hero Colin McRae won ROC in Gran Canaria, always hoping that one day I would be invited to compete.
“It’s a true honour to be able to represent New Zealand and compete against some of the best of the best. New Zealand has always proudly punched above its weight in world motorsport and this will be a chance for myself and my teammate, whoever that ends up being, to really fly the Kiwi flag on the world stage.
“I hope many New Zealand fans will join me in Sydney now that this unique event is coming to this part of the world for the first time. March cannot come soon enough.”
Five drivers have been confirmed for the 2025 ROC, with Paddon joined by the world’s greatest-ever rally driver, nine-time WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb of France, a German ‘super team’ of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher, and Australian Supercars legend Jamie Whincup.
The event comes two weeks after the 2025 Supercars opener at Sydney Motorsport Park (Feb 21-23), one week after the IndyCar opener at St. Petersburg, and one week before the opening round of the F1 World Championship in Melbourne. There are also no races that weekend in the World Endurance Championship or IMSA.
The dates so, however, clash with the NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix, ruling out Kiwi star Shane van Gisbergen.
“We are very happy to welcome Sebastien Loeb and Hayden Paddon to the first ever Race Of Champions in Australia,” said Fredrik Johnsson, Race Of Champions President and Co-Founder.
“It’s long overdue that New Zealand will now finally have a team in the ROC Nations Cup for the first time. Hayden has showed how fast he is just clinching his second European Rally Championship title and we now have to decide who his teammate should be to represent New Zealand at ROC Sydney. New Zealand has so many great racing drivers, so it will not be an easy choice.
“We are excited that the Australian and Kiwi fans will have the chance to see Sebastien and Hayden in action on the spectacular ROC tarmac race track that we will build in Sydney’s former Olympic Stadium. I’m sure their super fast and often sideways driving styles will be a big hit with the fans.”
The event is split into two parts: the Nations Cup, ‘to crown the world’s fastest nation’ on Friday, and the Race of Champions, ‘to crown the Champion of Champions’ a day later.
In the Nations Cup, drivers team up with their fellow countrymen in pairs. Each driver initially has one race against a driver from the opposing team, competing head-to-head in identical cars. If scores are even after two races, the winners will square off.
The same drivers return a day later to compete as individual drivers to determine the ‘Champion of Champions’.
The cars used in the Race of Champions vary from year to year, but each machine is identical in every respect. During the event, each driver will drive several different vehicles.
In 2023, cars used included the Cupra Urban Rebel Concept, Zeroid X1 Powered by QEV, Supercar Lites, and Polaris RZR buggys.
Twenty drivers competed in the 2023 edition at Pite Havsbad in Sweden on a circuit of snow and ice, including Loeb, Vettel, Schumacher, Oliver and Petter Solberg, nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, Felix Rosenqvist, David Coulthard, Travis Pastrana, Mika Hakkinen, and Valtteri Bottas.
Sweden’s Mattias Ekström, a two-time DTM Champion and Extreme E star was crowned the Champion of Champions, while Oliver and Petter Solberg pipped the All-star team of Felipe Drugovich and Thierry Neuville in the Nations Cup.
The 2024 Race of Champions was scheduled to take place at the same venue but was cancelled due to uncertainties regarding the suitability of the land at Pite Havsbad, where it was held a year earlier.
Instead, Sydney will become the first venue in the Southern Hemisphere to host the event in its 36-year history.
Germany is the most successful team in Nations Cup history, with eight wins, six of which came consecutively for Vettel and Michael Schumacher from 2007-2012.
Loeb, Didier Auriol, and Ekstrom share the record for most “Champion of Champions” titles, with four each.
Other previous winners include Colin McRae, Sébastien Ogier, Carlos Sainz Sr, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Romain Grosjean.
