Race of Champions

I was fortunate enough to visit the Race of Champions event in Bangkok last weekend. Awesome event that featured the best drivers from around the world against each other on a level playing field. As we all know motorsport is never a level playing field as different teams have different resources for development.
The Race of Champions event saw drivers race against each other using identical cars on the same track doing 2 laps each. It was purely down to driver skill and car control. The track layout was set inside a stadium so it was naturally going to be narrow and short.

After watching the Race of Nations where teams from several countries raced against each other. It was very clear to see how much the American drivers struggled against the Europeans. The American drivers just didn't have the speed to match the European drivers. The Asian drivers represented by China, Thailand and Japan fared better and managed to win some heats.

The cars used for this event were: Audi R8 LMS, KTM X-Bow, VW Scirocco R, Euro Racecar (similar to Nascar), ROC buggy, Toyota GT86 and Lamborghini Gallardo Trofeo. The drivers will swap cars for each race making it very interesting to see how well the drivers adapted to the different handling characteristics of each car.

Top notch Formula One drivers really showed their skill when they were the ones to beat.

In the Race of Nations Sebastien Vettel and Michael Schumacher won it for Team Germany. No other team even came close to beating Team Germany. It was very clear to see that the Formula One drivers and WRC drivers were among the best.

The individual driver's title was closely fought between the Formula One drivers and the DTM touring car drivers. Interestingly enough Michael Schumacher was beaten in the semi final by the eventual winner Romain Grosjean who was the Lotus Formula One team driver.

Veteran 500cc champion Mick Doohan and World Superbike champion Jorge Lorenzo were also present to try their luck. Having being a master of two wheels did not make any impact on four wheels. Both Doohan and Lorenzo struggled against WRC and Formula One drivers who were able to maximise the performance of their machinery.

Overall it is unique event where top drivers from different motorsports meet to race against each other. There is no other event like it in the world. Definitely worth watching live!