2004 Race of Champions

The 2004 Race of Champions took place on December 4 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Unlike previous events at a gravel course in Gran Canaria, the new Stade de France event was all-tarmac, so road racers became more competitive than rally drivers.

Layout of 2004 Race of Champions

The Nations' Cup underwent some significant changes - nations were now represented by only two competitors instead of three, with the motorcyclists axed. In addition, the rules regarding having one rally driver and one circuit driver were relaxed, leading to some all-circuit driver teams. As the host nation, France was permitted to field two teams.

The individual event was won by a then-relatively unknown Heikki Kovalainen, and the team event by Jean Alesi and Sébastien Loeb representing France. There was also a special "World Champions Challenge" race held between 2004 Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and 2004 world rally champion Sébastien Loeb, which Schumacher won.

Participants

Country Driver 1 Driver 2
Brazil Brazil Felipe Massa Brazil Tony Kanaan
Finland Finland Heikki Kovalainen Finland Marcus Grönholm
France France Jean Alesi France Sébastien Loeb
France (Team PlayStation) France Sébastien Bourdais France Stéphane Sarrazin
Germany Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Armin Schwarz
Great Britain United Kingdom David Coulthard United Kingdom Colin McRae
Sweden Sweden Kenny Bräck Sweden Mattias Ekström
USA United States Casey Mears* United States Jimmie Johnson

* - Casey Mears was a last-minute substitute for Jeff Gordon, who was hospitalized with the flu and told not to participate in this event by doctors while at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City that week.

Race of Champions

Racing Group

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
ROC Car
 
 
Finland Heikki Kovalainen1:45.8988
 
Ferrari 360 Modena
 
United Kingdom David Coulthard1:56.9983 (penalty)
 
Finland Heikki Kovalainen1:48.9325
 
ROC Car
 
France Jean Alesi1:50.6410
 
United States Casey Mears1:45.4170
 
Ferrari 360 Modena
 
France Jean Alesi1:44.8707
 
Finland Heikki Kovalainen1:45.3851
 
ROC Car
 
Germany Michael Schumacher1:56.3805 (penalty)
 
Sweden Kenny Bräck1:59.0832 (penalty)
 
Ferrari 360 Modena
 
France Sébastien Bourdais1:43.9553
 
France Sébastien Bourdais1:52.5493
 
ROC Car
 
Germany Michael Schumacher1:49.2940
 
Germany Michael Schumacher1:43.6905
 
 
Brazil Felipe Massa1:53.6368 (penalty)
 

Rallying Group

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
Citroën Xsara WRC
 
 
Sweden Mattias Ekström1:48.7732
 
Peugeot 307 WRC
 
United Kingdom Colin McRae1:58.7684 (penalty)
 
Sweden Mattias Ekström1:46.5447
 
Citroën Xsara WRC
 
Finland Marcus Grönholm1:45.2022
 
France Stéphane Sarrazin1:47.6678
 
Citroën Xsara WRC
 
Finland Marcus Grönholm1:46.0241
 
Finland Marcus Grönholm1:44.6967
 
Peugeot 307 WRC
 
France Sébastien Loeb1:44.0306
 
United States Jimmie Johnson2:18.5842 (penalty)
 
Citroën Xsara WRC
 
Germany Armin Schwarz1:50.7135
 
Germany Armin Schwarz1:47.3488
 
Peugeot 307 WRC
 
France Sébastien Loeb1:45.6719
 
France Sébastien Loeb1:46.4110
 
 
Brazil Tony Kanaan1:54.8822 (penalty)
 

Final

Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2
Finland Heikki Kovalainen 1:42.2602 Peugeot 307 WRC France Sébastien Loeb 1:43.0579
Finland Heikki Kovalainen 1:47.4383 Ferrari 360 Modena France Sébastien Loeb 1:55.5842 Yellow card

World Champions Challenge

Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2
Germany Michael Schumacher 1:46.7832 ROC Car France Sébastien Loeb 1:46.9166
Germany Michael Schumacher 1:43.6134 ROC Car France Sébastien Loeb 1:43.3109
Germany Michael Schumacher 1:41.8246 ROC Car France Sébastien Loeb 1:42.7484

The Nations Cup

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
France France2
 
 
 
France Team Playstation France0
 
France France2
 
 
 
Brazil Brazil0
 
Brazil Brazil2
 
 
 
Germany Germany0
 
France France3
 
 
 
Finland Finland2
 
United Kingdom Great Britain2
 
 
 
United States USA1
 
United Kingdom Great Britain0
 
 
 
Finland Finland2
 
Finland Finland2
 
 
Sweden Sweden0
 

Quarterfinals

Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 Car
France France 2-0 France Team PlayStation France
Jean Alesi 1:50.3002 Sébastien Bourdais 1:51.2661 Ferrari 360 Modena
Sébastien Loeb 1:44.1263 Stéphane Sarrazin 1:47.5831 Peugeot 307 WRC
Brazil Brazil 2-0 Germany Germany
Felipe Massa 1:50.1074 Michael Schumacher 1:53.7634 Ferrari 360 Modena
Tony Kanaan 1:49.7582 Armin Schwarz 1:50.0430 Citroën Xsara WRC
United Kingdom Great Britain 2-1 United States USA
David Coulthard 1:56.2226 Casey Mears 1:53.5186 Ferrari 360 Modena
Colin McRae 1:53.9080 Jimmie Johnson 2:15.4507 Citroën Xsara WRC
David Coulthard 1:44.7981 Casey Mears 1:45.0045 Ferrari 360 Modena
Finland Finland 2-0 Sweden Sweden
Heikki Kovalainen 1:46.6362 Kenny Bräck 1:51.3292 Ferrari 360 Modena
Marcus Grönholm 1:49.0011 Mattias Ekström 1:49.6333 Citroën Xsara WRC

Semifinals

Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 Car
France France 2-0 Brazil Brazil
Jean Alesi 1:41.7459 Felipe Massa 1:42.1434 ROC Car
Sébastien Loeb 1:47.0386 Tony Kanaan 1:51.4750 Citroën Xsara WRC
United Kingdom Great Britain 0-2 Finland Finland
David Coulthard 1:43.6151 Heikki Kovalainen 1:41.6780 ROC Car
Colin McRae 1:46.7798 Marcus Grönholm 1:43.8857 Peugeot 307 WRC

Final

Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 Car
France France 3-2 Finland Finland
Jean Alesi 1:42.2688 Heikki Kovalainen 1:40.8116 ROC Car
Sébastien Loeb 1:44.8087 Marcus Grönholm 1:46.0491 Citroën Xsara WRC
Jean Alesi 1:57.9157 (penalty) Heikki Kovalainen 1:46.8295 Ferrari 360 Modena
Sébastien Loeb 1:43.1858 Marcus Grönholm 1:44.3120 Peugeot 307 WRC
Jean Alesi 2:22.4891 Heikki Kovalainen DNF Ferrari 360 Modena

References


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