The draw took place earlier today for the pairings for this weekend's racefest. The
drivers are split into groups of four for a round-robin first stage, then going head to head for two-lap races on a parallel
track for the right to participate in the knockout stages.
The draw
has set up some pretty good duels, with Schumacher lined up to battle with fellow
F1 world champion Jenson Button – along with X-Games star Brian Deegan and
rally ace Jan Kopecký. Vettel faces another tough group with Le Mans legend Tom
Kristensen, fellow F1 driver Vitaly Petrov and GP2 champion Romain Grosjean.
Race Of
Champions (Sunday December 4)
Group A
- Filipe ALBUQUERQUE, DTM star and reigning ROC Champion of Champions
- Andy PRIAULX, three-time World Touring Car Champion
- David COULTHARD, winner of 13 Formula 1 grands prix
- Travis PASTRANA, four-time Rally America winner and X-Games legend
Group B
- Mattias EKSTROM, DTM star and triple ROC Champion of Champions
- Martin TOMCZYK, 2011 DTM Champion
- Jan KOPECKÝ, three-time Intercontinental Rally Challenge runner-up
- Sébastien OGIER, winner of five WRC rallies in 2011
Group C
- Michael SCHUMACHER, seven-time Formula 1 World Champion
- Jenson BUTTON, 2009 Formula 1 World Champion
- Brian DEEGAN, 13 X-games medals including Rally Cross gold in 2011
- Juho HÄNNINEN, 2011 S-WRC champion and 2010 IRC champion
Group D
- Sebastian VETTEL, 2010 and 2011 Formula 1 World Champion
- Tom KRISTENSEN, eight-time Le Mans 24-Hour race winner
- Vitaly PETROV, Formula 1 driver for Lotus Renault GP
- Romain GROSJEAN, 2011 GP2 Series Champion
The
action begins on Saturday evening with the ROC Nations Cup, when Schumacher and Vettel aim for an fifth consecutive title together
for Team Germany. The German pair will again go up against Button and triple
World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx as they have been drawn against Team
GB, the runners-up for the past two years.
ROC
Nations Cup (Saturday December 3)
Group A
- Team France (Sébastien OGIER & Romain GROSJEAN)
- Team Nordic (Tom KRISTENSEN & Juho HÄNNINEN)
- Team USA (Travis PASTRANA & Brian DEEGAN)
- SAT1 Team Germany 2 (Timo GLOCK & Timo SCHEIDER)
Group B
- Team Germany (Michael SCHUMACHER & Sebastian VETTEL)
- Team Slavic (Vitaly PETROV & Jan KOPECKÝ)
- Team Great Britain (Jenson BUTTON & Andy PRIAULX)
- Team All Stars (David COULTHARD & Filipe ALBUQUERQUE)
Speaking
after the draw, Frentzen said: “Taking a look at the groups I have to say the
crowds will definitely see several very interesting duels: F1 stars against
rally aces, DTM drivers against sportscar stars. It couldn’t have worked out
much better so the spectators can already look forward to a lot of thrilling
race action.”
Frentzen
will himself take part in a special ROC Legends Cup race on Sunday alongside
fellow German F1 veteran Hans-Joachim Stuck plus former European rally champion
Marc Duez and 1984 world rally champion Stig Blomqvist. Swedish legend
Blomqvist is a replacement for F1’s Jos Verstappen, who was forced to pull out
due to a late clash of commitments.
As well
as a stellar driver line-up, the Race Of Champions features an impressive array
of vehicles including the powerful Audi R8 LMS, VW Scirocco and Skoda Fabia
Super 2000 rally car. They will run alongside ROC favourites such as the ROC
car, KTM X-Bow, World Touring Racecar and the RX150 buggy.
There is
a full programme of entertainment featuring the Red Bull FMX show, Chris
Pfeiffer Streetbike Freestyle Rider and stunt driver Terry Grant’s world record
attempt for driving on two wheels. Newly-signed Volkswagen World Rally
Championship driver Sébastien Ogier will also do a demonstration run in the
all-new VW Polo WRC car.
