Yesterday’s Race of Champions draw set the stage for some exciting first-round matchups, with New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon and Louis Sharp set to face some formidable opponents.
Friday night’s ROC Nations Cup sees Team New Zealand (Paddon and Sharp) facing two Australian teams in the first round, reigniting the Trans-Tasman rivalry. Group B will see them compete against Team Australia Supercars (Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki) and Team Australia Off-Road (Molly Taylor and Toby Price) for a quarterfinal berth.
Elsewhere, Chaz Mostert will partner with Sweden’s seven-time Rallycross World Champion Johan Kristoffersson in Team All Stars, following the withdrawal of reigning Champion of Champions winner Mattias Ekström. The All Stars are in Group A with Team Finland (Valtteri Bottas and Heikki Kovalainen) and Team France (Sébastien Loeb and Victor Martins).
Alister McRae replaces his son Max for Team Great Britain, partnering with former F1 star David Coulthard in Group C. This group also includes the German team of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher, and Team USA (Travis Pastrana and Kurt Busch).
The Race of Champions (Champion of Champions) draw was also announced, mirroring the ROC Sweden format. The draw is split, with off-road and rally competitors in the top half (Groups A-B-C) and circuit racers in the bottom half (Groups D-E-F).
Sébastien Loeb received a first-round bye, advancing to the quarterfinals, as did Mick Schumacher.
Paddon, in Group C, faces a tough challenge against 2003 WRC winner Petter Solberg and Dakar champion Toby Price. Louis Sharp faces four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel and 2023 Supercars Champion Brodie Kostecki (who is replacing Jamie Whincup due to Cyclone Alfred).
A wildcard entry, the eROC Champion (determined via simulator and real-car shootout), will replace McRae in Group A, facing Kristoffersson and Taylor in the first round.
Twenty drivers will represent their countries/teams in Friday’s ROC Nations Cup (“world’s fastest nation”) before battling for the individual Race of Champions title Saturday night on the 1km parallel track.
The drivers will compete in six different vehicles: FC2 Rallycross, Supercar Lite Rallycross, KTM X-Bow Comp R, Polaris RZR Pro R, Subaru BRZ tS, and Toyota GR86 Cup. Each heat is a head-to-head duel in identical cars, decided to 1/10,000ths of a second.
The action begins tomorrow with the Nations Cup, airing on SkySport 7 at 8:30 pm NZT. Coverage continues Saturday night on SkySport 5, also starting at 8:30 pm NZT.
Header Image: Race of Champions
