The 2025 Race of Champions, to be held at Accor Stadium in Sydney on March 7-8, continues to take shape, with Australia’s two-time Dakar Champion Toby Price the latest addition to the star-studded event.
Price joins Supercars champion Will Brown, rally star Molly Taylor, and seven-time Supercars Champion Jamie Whincup as the four Australian competitors confirmed for the field.
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 confirmed for the event late in October last year.
A second Kiwi driver is yet to be confirmed.
Nine-time WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb of France, and a German ‘super team’ of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher were among the early announcements.
Since then, Norwegian father and son rally duo Petter and Oliver Solberg have been added to the field, as has Finland’s Formula 1 star Valtteri Bottas.
Seven-time FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson, of Sweden, will participate, as will 11-time X Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana of the United States.
Price is the 13th driver locked in for the star-studded event. Price turned professional at the age of just 16 and won the Australian off-road championship at this first attempt, laying the foundation for an incredible national and international career, which not only included his 2016 and 2019 Dakar Rally victories, but a second placing in 2023 and third places in 2015, 2018 and 2020.
In recent years he turned his attention to cars/trucks and is the only competitor to have won the famous Finke Desert Race in central Australia on both two and four wheels.
“We have been flat out getting everything together for Dakar and I received a call from Fredrik (Johnsson) out of the blue about being a part of the Race Of Champions,” he said.
“ROC is such a cool event and to be a part of the first version in Australia is pretty exciting to be honest and something to look forward to.”
“We have our heads down making sure we head to Dakar as prepared as we possibly can be in what will be our first attempt in a car.”
“It is nice to know that once we have Dakar behind us we will be returning home to join Jamie (Whincup), Will (Brown) and Molly (Taylor) as part of Team Australia and going up against some of the best in the world.”
The ROC Nations Cup takes place on Friday March 7, with drivers paired in teams based on nationality to bid for the title of ‘World’s Fastest Nation’.
The Saturday night will see the individual Race Of Champions, when all teamwork goes out of the window and it will be a battle for individual glory and the ‘Champion of Champions’ title.
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.
This year’s Race Of Champions comes two weeks after the 2025 Supercars opener at Sydney Motorsport Park (Feb 21-23) and one week before the opening round of the F1 World Championship in Melbourne (March 13-16).
More superstars from Formula 1, Supercars, Le Mans, Nascar, World Rally & Rally X to be announced in coming weeks, including a second Kiwi driver. Who the second Kiwi driver is remains a mystery, with the event taking place after the Supercars season-opener, and one week before Formula 1’s Melbourne Grand Prix.
A NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway that weekend rules out Kiwi star Shane van Gisbergen as a potential participant. IndyCar, however, begin their season one week earlier.
