Gran Canaria Rally
Discussion
The 17th Race of Champions - Nations Cup will be held the December 4, 2004 at the 70,000-seat Stade de France in Paris. With the current leaders of both the Formula 1 and World Rally Championship standings, Michael Schumacher Captaining the German National Team and Sebastien Loeb heading the French National Team, the annual end-of-season showdown promises to be one of the highlights of the 2004 motorsport calendar.
The setting for this thrilling clash of champions couldn't be more fitting: France's premier sports stadium, the Stade de France, near Paris, known worldwide as the home of the 1998 soccer World Cup! During the first weekend of December, however, the sacred French turf will make way for a challenging 1 km, figure-of-eight parallel course designed and built especially for the occasion.
This switch from the Race of Champions' traditional Canary Islands venue will mark a symbolic return to the event's roots, for it is in Paris that the inaugural 'ROC' - brainchild of Fredrik Johnson President of event organiser IMP, and motor sport's most successful lady driver Michele Mouton - was held in 1988.
Since then, the Race of Champions has established itself as a not-to-miss fixture, bringing together stars not only from rallying, but also from the worlds of international car and bike racing, in two unique head-to-head knockout competitions in identical cars.
The ROC Nations Cup is a gripping contest that opposes national teams of two in a bid to determine the 'World's Fastest Country'. Finland, France, Spain and the USA have already taken the trophy in the past. But with Schumacher confirmed to spearhead Germany's challenge in 2004, and with Loeb already named to captain the French squad against line-ups from all of motor sport's traditionally strong nations, this innovative competition is sure to keep spectators on their toes from start to finish.
The weekend's other top-billing event is The Race of Champions itself. Created seventeen years ago to designate the year's individual 'Champion of Champions', the list of past winners features the 2003 “Champion of Champions” current WRC leader Sébastien Loeb as well as former World Rally Champions Juha Kankkunen, Stig Blomqvist, Didier Auriol, Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Marcus Grönholm, and reads like a Who's Who of the sport.
>> Edited by FourWheelDrift on Monday 13th September 16:37
The setting for this thrilling clash of champions couldn't be more fitting: France's premier sports stadium, the Stade de France, near Paris, known worldwide as the home of the 1998 soccer World Cup! During the first weekend of December, however, the sacred French turf will make way for a challenging 1 km, figure-of-eight parallel course designed and built especially for the occasion.
This switch from the Race of Champions' traditional Canary Islands venue will mark a symbolic return to the event's roots, for it is in Paris that the inaugural 'ROC' - brainchild of Fredrik Johnson President of event organiser IMP, and motor sport's most successful lady driver Michele Mouton - was held in 1988.
Since then, the Race of Champions has established itself as a not-to-miss fixture, bringing together stars not only from rallying, but also from the worlds of international car and bike racing, in two unique head-to-head knockout competitions in identical cars.
The ROC Nations Cup is a gripping contest that opposes national teams of two in a bid to determine the 'World's Fastest Country'. Finland, France, Spain and the USA have already taken the trophy in the past. But with Schumacher confirmed to spearhead Germany's challenge in 2004, and with Loeb already named to captain the French squad against line-ups from all of motor sport's traditionally strong nations, this innovative competition is sure to keep spectators on their toes from start to finish.
The weekend's other top-billing event is The Race of Champions itself. Created seventeen years ago to designate the year's individual 'Champion of Champions', the list of past winners features the 2003 “Champion of Champions” current WRC leader Sébastien Loeb as well as former World Rally Champions Juha Kankkunen, Stig Blomqvist, Didier Auriol, Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Marcus Grönholm, and reads like a Who's Who of the sport.
>> Edited by FourWheelDrift on Monday 13th September 16:37
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff