For the second year in a row, the traditional winter Race of Champions will take place in the Swedish town of Pite-Havsbad on a parallel track 100 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, built on the ice of the Baltic Sea.
On Saturday, ten teams from seven countries and three national teams – eROC, Scandinavia and All Stars – competed for the Nations Cup on four types of vehicles – rallycross Zeroid X1 (335 hp) and Supercars Lite (320 hp), concepts Cupra Urbanrebel (435 hp ) and all-terrain vehicles Polaris RZR (181 hp).
The line-up was really great: five Formula 1 drivers, French rally driver Sebastien Loeb, Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovic, two-time WSeries title holder Jamie Chadwick, the married couple of world rally and rallycross champion Petter Solberg and his son Oliver.
The races were opened by representatives from Finland and eROC at Cupra – and Lucas Blakely was unexpectedly ahead of the aggressively attacking Valtteri Bottas. After this, Mika Hakkinen and Jarno Opmeer fought. Mika had a bad start, touching the snow barrier – and also lost to the electronic racing representative.
The second duel was between the Germans and the British. Vettel and Coulthard battled on Polaris – Sebastian won the race and then Mick Schumacher battling Jamie Chadwick gave Germany a second victory.
Bottas then battled Opmeer in Supercars Lite. Valtteri made a few mistakes but was able to bounce back to finish first. Then Hakkinen and Blakely started – and Lucas was ahead of the two-time world champion. Finland already fell out of the Nations Cup in the first leg.
Schumacher and Coulthard had an ice duel on Zeroid – David touched the parapet, almost rolled over, but kept moving, Mick controlled very confidently and finished with a big advantage. Vettel in a bitter fight for Chadwick – and the UK also fell out of contention.
After the track was cleared, the second part of the races was opened by the teams of France and Norway – the Norwegian won in the fight between Loeb and Petter Solberg. His son Oliver consolidated the success ahead of Adrien Tambe, who made a U-turn.
Christofferson and Christensen started the duel between Sweden and Scandinavia – Johan was faster. Rosenquist and Ekström went through – and the Swedes won again.
Solberg got ahead of Tambe to take a third win in three races for Norway. His son fought Loeb – and knocked out the French team in the Nations Cup.
At the wheel of the Supercars Lite, Kristofferson was faster than Rosenquist, while Ekström was ahead of Christensen. France and Scandinavia fell out of battle.
In a dispute between the USA and All Stars, Neuville and Faust left first – and the “star team” confirmed its name, but in the second pair, Drugovich lost to the eminent Travis Pastrana, who evened the score.
Vettel and Blakely drove Polaris. A gamer from eROC drove into the barrier in the first corner – and Sebastian won confidently. Schumacher was just as confident ahead of Opmeer – and Germany took the lead 2-0.
Faust and Drugovich continued the duel between the USA and the All Stars – and the Formula 2 champion was the first. It looked like the Brazilian would have a hard time on the rink, but he won – the American driver’s Supercars Lite retired after contact with the barrier due to technical problems.
Germany’s fight against gamers was continued by Schumacher and Blakely. Mick was surprisingly good on the ice and the eROC rider jumped the snow barrier – and the electronic racing representatives, who had won the virtual tournament the day before, dropped out of further competition.
Pastrana and Neuville continued the battle between the USA and the All Stars, in which the Stars were stronger and advanced to the semifinals.
The semi-finals Sweden and Norway started with a duel between Kristofferson and Solberg on the mischievous Polaris – the victory went to the Swede. Ekström and Solberg continued to fight in Cupra – and Norway tied the score.
Then Solberg and Ekström appeared on the track, continuing the fundamental dispute between Sweden and Norway – and everything was decided by a few centimeters. Kristofferson and Solberg fell out again and Norway secured a place in the final.
Germany and All Stars battled for the second vacancy – Vettel and Neuville had a duel at Polaris, in which Sebastian lost. Then Drugovic and Schumacher battled at the Cupra – and Mick equalized.
Racers of two generations – Vettel, who left Formula 1, and Formula 2 champion Drugovich battled for a place in the final. The Brazilian made a false start – Sebastian won, but Schumacher and Neuville put an end to this fight, in which the All Stars turned out to be stronger and knocked out the eternal champions – the German team.
Norway and All Stars met in the final. Solberg and Neuville were the first to leave Cupra – the “stars” won by a minimal lead. On Polaris, Drugovic and Oliver Solberg continued the battle – and Norway tied the score.
The older Solberg and Drugovic then took to the track in Supercars Lite. Experience again took precedence over youth – Petter brought Norway forward. Then his son fought against Neuville – and brought Norway the final victory!
The winner of the Race of Champions in the individual competition will be determined tomorrow!
And below is the full record of the race!
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
