PITEA, Sweden – Rally legend Sébastien Loeb put in a stunning performance to eclipse 17 motorsport superstars and claim victory during the Race of Champions Sunday in Sweden.
Following Team Norway’s triumph in Saturday’s ROC Nations Cup, all cooperation went out of the window Sunday. The individual Race Of Champions pitted some of the world’s greatest drivers head-to-head on ROC’s iconic parallel track, purpose built on the frozen Baltic Sea as part of the first Race of Champions Snow + Ice.
After an unprecedented tidal surge saw Saturday’s racing take place on just the inner half of the track, Sunday the drivers could let rip on the full circuit featuring ROC’s famous crossover bridge.
The Race Of Champions saw greats of global motorsport battling it out for glory in a mix of identical machinery – including the FIA RX2e electric rallycross car, Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, off-road Polaris RZR PRO XP and the 100% fossil-free biofuel powered SuperCar Lites.
In the end, it was Loeb that bested his German rival with three heat victories to one to claim his fourth Champion of Champions title. He now finds himself equal to Didier Auriol for the all-time Champion of Champions record.
“It’s been a long time since I was last at the Race Of Champions, so I’m happy to find out that at 47 years of age I still have the pace,” said Loeb. “This adds to my good start to the season: second in the Dakar Rally, first in Monte Carlo and now a victory here at ROC. It wasn’t easy for us to go up against all the Swedish and Norwegian guys because they are more used to these conditions. I also knew it would be tough adapting between the Porsche, buggy and rallycross cars. But after I made it through against Petter Solberg I got more confidence with each run. It was a nice fight with Seb in the final and I had a good feeling – except for when I completely lost control of the car in the third heat! Now here we are, and it’s great to equal Didier’s record of four ROC Champion of Champions titles.”
Loeb defeated Peter Solberg, Oliver Solberg and finally Mattias Ekström before reaching the finals. Vettel had to best Emma Kimilainen, Colton Herta and Tom Kristensen to reach the finals.