The Race of the champions is an international motor sport event where the best of the best drivers from across the world participate. Drivers from Formula One (F1), World rally Championship etc participate to win the title of the “Race against Champions”

The race is divided into two parts. 1. Over all Champion who receives the title “The Champion of Champions” and 2. Nation wise competition.

This year the Race of the Champion will be held at Wembley Stadium, London on 14th December 2008.

The 2007 Race of the Champions was won by by  Mattias Ekström of Sweden, beating the seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. The ROC nation competition was won by Germany.

It is decided each year at The Race of Champions where the world’s best circuit racers and off-road drivers compete head-to-head.
Created in 1988 by IMP (International Media Productions) President Fredrik Johnsson and the world’s best female rally driver, Michele Mouton, the ROC remains the only opportunity for drivers to race in exactly the same cars and on a parallel track. The premise is simple: using identical equipment and track, drivers can prove themselves based on their talent alone.

In 2008, sixteen drivers will compete in a series of knockout heats in their own division to determine their class champion. Then, in a shoot-out to determine who is the master of motorsport, the winners from the two divisions will go head-to-head in a super final.

The winner is rewarded with the title “The Champion of Champions”.

History
The first edition of the Race of Champions, held in Paris in 1988, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the World Championship for Rally Drivers gathering all the official World Rally Champions in a competition on identical cars. The event was held in memory of the late Henri Toivonen, who died at the Corsica rally while leading the world championship in 1986. The Henri Toivonen Memorial trophy is still awarded to the winner of the individual Race of Champions.

The Race of Champions was originally conceived as the ultimate shoot-out between the best international rally stars. 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, seven-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen, four-time NASCAR Champ Jeff Gordon, seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher, Renault F1’s Heikki Kovalainen and Audi’s Swedish DTM Champion Mattias Ekstrom.

Recent form
Now in its 21st year, the ROC boasts a list of past winners that reads like the “who’s who of racing”. DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom created a huge surprise when he beat homecrowd favourite Sébastien Loeb at Stade de France in 2006 and then again last year at Wembley when he defeated Michael Schumacher. Loeb, the 5-time World Rally Champion, had taken the title in 2005. The above join a distinguished group that includes world rally champions Juha Kankkunen, Stig Blomqvist, Didier Auriol, Tommi Mäkinen, Carlos Sainz, Colin McRae and Marcus Gronholm.

In 2004 Heikki Kovalainen, the Nissan World Series Champion that year, surprised everybody by winning against all the established stars. After beating seven-times Formula 1 Champion Michael Schumacher, the young Finn celebrated by jumping up and down on the red Ferrari! He then went on to beat Sebastien Loeb in the ROC Super-Final to take the “Champion of Champions” title.

In 2003, Sebastien Loeb ended his season on a high note by winning a re-match of the 2002 ROC final, beating Finland’s two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm. Loeb defeated Gronholm two heats to nil, both victories achieved by little more than a car length.

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Source : raceofchampions.com