Race of champions

The 17 th Race of Champions – Nations Cup will be held the 4 December 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 Sébastien Loeb heading the French National Team the annual end-of-season showdown promises to be one of the highlights of the 2004 motor-sport 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 Michèle 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.

A thrilling contest between nations and individual drivers…

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.

But experts from other disciplines have given the rally boys more than just a run for their money over the years. They include MotoGP's Valentino Rossi, six-times Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen and four-times Nascar Champ Jeff Gordon, captain of the USA's Nations Cup winning team in 2002. Meanwhile, Schumacher will be the latest in a long line of F1 stars to have accepted the invitation, including Fernando Alonso, Cristiano Da Matta, Olivier Panis and Nick Heidfeld.

"This year, spectators at the Stade de France are going to be treated to a fantastic show," enthuses Michèle Mouton. "We are thrilled that Michael Schumacher has accepted our invitation to compete. The world's most talented rally drivers will not want to be beaten by a circuit racer, even if he is a six-times World Champion. And with a whole host of other top names soon to be announced, I think we have the makings of what promises to be the most exciting Race of Champions yet."
Schumacher himself knows that the Race of Champions and the ROC Nations Cup represent a special challenge: "I am really looking forward to competing in The Race of Champions for the first time." says the Ferrari driver. “ I have seen it on TV before and it looks like a lot of fun."


alot of pics and information on [URL=http://www.imp.mc/rocwebsite/index.htm]ERE[/URL]

the pics are about 2.5mb which is why i didnt post them it would of taken me ages to resize them all :o

i am hoping to get tickets to this since i just found out that it is december 4th over a weekend near to christmas, so i might just get there, but it would mean that i would have t travelk at night straight after college and then travel back on sunday night to go to college on monday :p HEHE

that looks awesome to me, i hope to convince my dad to get there,it gotta be a hell of a job to do that but i guess i gotta get started. :o :o Paris is only a 6-700 km away.

BTW Mustang :they advise to get there by train, it realy is the best way.the stadium is near one the most busiest highways out there, and that is getting clot up easily when so many people wanna go there.

[QUOTE=drakkie]that looks awesome to me, i hope to convince my dad to get there,it gotta be a hell of a job to do that but i guess i gotta get started. :o :o Paris is only a 6-700 km away.

BTW Mustang :they advise to get there by train, it realy is the best way.the stadium is near one the most busiest highways out there, and that is getting clot up easily when so many people wanna go there.[/QUOTE]


not sure what distance it is from here, think you can get plabe out to paris for about £90 which is probable cheaper than train :( its finding a place to stay though that isnt going to cost me a fortune :(:(

anyways i probable wont be able to get to go to this one, maybee ill have to wait till i can drive there :)