Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Another season of Drive to Survive is out. Cadillac's Formula One program has been confirmed. People are mad at a person for having an opinion. Chase Briscoe won an appeal. Austin Cindric lost some points and some money. NASCAR filed a countersuit against 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports. Meanwhile, in Australia, Sébastien Loeb made history in Race of Champions, winning the Champion of Champions competition for a record fifth time, and Loeb became the first driver to win the individual title and the Nations’ Cup in the same Race of Champions. Loeb and Victor Martins paired for France and defeated Brodie Kostecki and Will Brown representing the host Australians. This year's Race of Champions had me deep in thought.
Race of Too Familiar
At one point, Race of Champions was a regular end-of-year gathering of some of the best motorsports competitors in the world, and it filled a void. Taking place in December, the event fell when most series had been silent for a few months, and we were still about three months from serious competitions resuming. It was a great filler at an otherwise empty time, and just over 20 years ago, it was moved into European metropolises and stadiums were turned into racetracks.
ROC has survived the changing times of the last two decades. Calendars expanded deeper into autumn. November was no longer off limits, and now we are used to championships running into December, running into ROC's once exclusive territory.
The event has moved to the start of the calendar year, and it has even taken time off. This weekend's event in Sydney was the first in two years, and the first to run in March, right on the eve of the Formula One season opener one week later in Melbourne. It was nice to have it back, but the event has lost some of the shine it had 20 years ago.
A competition gathering the best drivers in the world is tough to manage. For starters, you are never going to get the best 16 to 20 drivers in the world all in one place. All you can do is get the best collection of talent that is possible, and ROC did a great job of that at one time. It might not be 16 champions from 16 different series, but it was respected drivers from a variety of categories. It pitted drivers against one another where you were interested to see who would come out on top.
Lately though, the ROC field has felt familiar... too familiar... and not only has it felt familiar but it is starting to feel outdated.
In 2005, there were 20 drivers competing in the second Race of Champions to be run at Stade de France in Paris. The average age of those drivers was just under 31 years of age. The oldest driver was German rally driver Armin Schwarz at 42 years old, one of four drivers in their 40s at the event. Ten drivers were below the age of 30.
In 2025, there were 20 drivers competing in the first Race of Champions held at Stadium Australia. The average age of those drivers at the start of competition on Friday was just under 36-and-a-half years old. Four drivers were over the age of 50. Another two drivers were older than Schwarz's age in the 2005 competition. Only six drivers were below the age of 30.
That is without mentioning that four drivers from that 2005 competition were still competing in 2025, and it would have been five if illness did not prevent Mattias Ekström from traveling.
Twenty years ago, Race of Champions moving to a stadium was something we had not seen previously. It strived to get the best possible field for people from around the globe to tune it. There was something for everyone. It has weathered some challenges over the last 20 years, but we are not seeing that same effort. The event hasn't come close to drawing that previous excitement.
ROC has become an event where it is resting on the known. It has its cast of characters that they know will not say no. Too many of the current field are retired drivers that do nothing else all year. Twenty years ago, the only ROC driver who did not compete full-time in a series was Colin McRae, and he was only two years removed from his last full season in the World Rally Championship.
Half of the 2025 field is not racing full-time anywhere this year. Kurt Busch, Travis Pastrana, Alister McRae, David Coulthard, Petter Solberg, Sebastian Vettel, Heikki Kovalainen, Toby Price and Molly Taylor are all not competing anywhere, and Valtteri Bottas is the Mercedes reserve driver, which is not competing. The FIA World RallyCross Championship is also in hiatus, and it looks increasingly unlikely there will be a 2025 season, which means Johan Kristoffersson is also without a full-time gig.
Race of Champions is becoming less of a representation of what the best drivers in the world look like every year.
ROC has a difficult task attracting high profile drivers. It is an unattached event hoping invitees will come from the goodness of their hearts and not because of a paycheck. They are doing this at a time when manufacturers, teams and sponsors have greater control over a driver's career and what he or she can and cannot do.
It is much easier to get a retired driver, who has no strings holding them back, but we have seen enough David Coulthard. It was nice getting to see Tom Kristensen, but we are good. For all that is good, shake Travis Pastrana's hand and thank him for his service.
This event must attempt to remain relevant for survival. Running a week before the Formula One opener likely turned out not to be the best choice. What team would let a driver compete in an unsanctioned event a week before the season opener? There is a narrow window for this event to take place and draw drivers from all over. There must be a time between the middle of January and the middle of February where Formula One drivers can participate and plenty of other forms of motorsports are not entirely busy.
There are more than Formula One drivers out there though. We know Race of Champions isn't going to be the 20 best drivers coming together. That is unrealistic, but what is realistic is bringing together talented drivers from multiple categories of motorsports that makes it interesting. That is what it was in 2005.
Sure, it featured the World Rally Champion, Indianapolis 500 winner and a 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, but you also had three active Formula One drivers plus two of the best junior drivers who were on the verge of Formula One. You had a mix of sports car drivers, touring car drivers and rally drivers. The drivers that were competing you felt fit the category of Race of Champions.
Jeff Gordon wasn't NASCAR Cup champion in 2005, but he was one of the best in NASCAR. Bernd Schneider wasn't Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion in 2005, but he was one of the best in DTM. If you get a smattering of top five drivers from eight or nine championships around the world, you have a pretty compelling competition.
Outside of the local Australians, nobody competing this year did anything notable in a top category the year before.
Max Verstappen and Kyle Larson might be out of reach, but there are plenty of drivers in this world that would make for a memorable competition.
The United Kingdom deserves Nick Tandy and James Calado as its representatives.
The Netherlands has more than Verstappen. Nyck de Vries, Robin Frijns, Nicky Catsburg, Renger van der Zande and Richard Verschoor are out there.
We should have an Italian team with DTM champion Mikko Bortolotti and Antonio Fuoco or Antonio Giovinazzi or Alessandro Pier Guidi or any of the Italian Ferrari Hypercar drivers.
Pick any of the 300 Danish drivers that are succeeding around the world.
New Zealand should have had a better team than relying on a teenager to compete. I know they are busy, but between Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Mitch Evans, Nick Cassidy, Brandon Hartley, Marcus Armstrong and Earl Bamber, none of them were available? Formula E is in the middle of a two-month break! How busy could Evans and Cassidy be?
How come we cannot get a Japanese team in this competition? Or a Swiss team? Why can't the van der Linde brothers represent South Africa? There is always Jordan Pepper if one backs out. Get Dane Cameron and a Taylor Brother or Colin Braun to represent the United States.
It is never going to be perfect, but Race of Champions can be better. Perhaps the world has changed too much and it is truly impossible to orchestrate for a respectable collection of drivers to compete in an all-star competition, but the effort must be made.
Eventually, it will not be possible to call David Coulthard, Petter Solberg and Sébastien Loeb for said competition. Either the event will die because it will be unable to replace the old geezers or it will die because the competitors are drivers the audience did not grow up watching.
Race of Champions has a place in the motorsports world. Motorsports needs a competition that cuts through the specialization and brings together racers from all corners of the world, but Race of Champions must actually bring together respectable racers that are relevant to the current championships, not to the championships decided 20 years ago.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about France and Sébastien Loeb, but did you know...
Christopher Bell won the NASCAR Cup race from Phoenix, his third consecutive victory. Aric Almirola won the Grand National Series race.
Kakunoshin Ohta and Tadasuke Makino split the Super Formula races from Suzuka.
Cooper Webb won the Supercross race from Indianapolis, his third victory of the season. Seth Hammaker won the 250cc race.
Coming Up This Weekend
Formula One opens in Melbourne.
Supercars has four races scheduled at Albert Park as well.
The 73rd 12 Hours of Sebring is here.
MotoGP is going to Argentina.
NASCAR makes a stop in Las Vegas.
