The annual Race of Champions gets underway in Sydney on Friday, with regular participant David Coulthard reflecting on some of the crazier stories over the years.
First held in 1988, the annual Race of Champions is being held in Stadium Australia in Sydney this weekend – a motorsport competition which pits drivers of all disciplines against each other in a variety of machinery for heat-based eliminations to determine the Champion.
David Coulthard reveals Michael Schumacher’s party trick
The Race of Champions gets underway with the Nations Cup, which pairs drivers together to represent countries and nations in competition.
Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher won the Nations Cup on six consecutive occasions between 2007 and ’12 but, curiously, neither managed to win the individual trophy on the following day.
This may have come down to the nature of the partying that took place following the Nations Cup victories, with David Coulthard revealing that Schumacher – famous for letting his hair down in celebration – had a favourite trick to pull on his rivals after a win.
“It’s fair to say, over some of the years, we’ve had some great parties,” Coulthard told the Formula for Success podcast.
“I remember Michael had this thing where he would put his hands in the back of your jean pockets and pull the pockets, and you would, in a flash, suddenly look like you’re wearing a pair of chaps because he would just rip the ass completely out of your jeans!
Coulthard was joined by ROC founder and President Fredrik Johnsson, who said, “I think Michael started that tradition in Beijing after they won ROC Nations Cup in 2009, and I think Michael and Sebastian Vettel, they won the ROC Nations Cup six times for Germany, but they never quite got there in the individual Race of Champions.
“I think that the way they celebrated their Nations Cup wins was a big reason why they didn’t quite make it the next day!”
Recounting some of his favourite memories over the years, Johnsson said the surprise victory of former Grand Prix driver Heikki Kovalainen, a relative unknown, in 2004 – beating Sebastien Loeb and Michael Schumacher in the process – led to a stunned crowd in Paris’ Stade de France, but said the antics of Travis Pastrana stick in his mind.
Pastrana competes for Team USA this year but, in 2005, kept an injury hidden for the entirety of the event. Known for his daring stunts (including jumping out of a plane with no parachute), Pastrana had promised to carry out an exhibition motorcycle stunt during the event.
“So he came in from the States, and went out for a first jump, just to check the ramps. He came up short,” Johnsson said.
“The guys who saw it – I didn’t see it personally – thought he was going to die. During the entire event, when nobody was watching, you could tell that he was in pain.
“When anybody was watching it, [he’d be like] ‘No, no, I’m all good. I’m all good’.
“He went to the semi-final and lost against Sebastian Loeb in the Citroen WRC car in which Sebastian had just won the World Rally Championship.
“He was like two metres behind with two corners to go, went for it, and crashed – he did phenomenal.
“A few days after the event, he texted me and said, ‘Frederick, I’m so happy, the leg is only broken! I thought it was the ligaments and everything. I’ll be good to go in six weeks!’
“So he’d done the entire event with a broken leg and almost beat Sebastian Loeb in his own car in the semi-final!”
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This year’s event sees high-profile names in the line-up, with Kovalainen joining Valtteri Bottas on Team Finland, while Loeb and Victor Martins drive for Team France.
On Team UK, Coulthard will drive alongside Alister McRae, with Vettel making a racing comeback alongside Mick Schumacher for Team Germany.
Australia, as host nation, will have two teams – the first will be Team Australia Supercars headed by Jamie Whincup and Will Brown, while Team Australia Off-Road will comprise Extreme e and Australian Rally Champion Molly Taylor and two-time Dakar winner, Toby Price.
Team Norway of Petter and Oliver Solberg receive an automatic spot in the first quarter final as defending ROC Nations Cup champions but face a different challenge since their 2023 win, with the Race of Champions moving away from the snow and ice of Sweden for the warmer climes of Sydney.
“On the snow and ice, the Nordics are difficult to beat, but let’s see how they go on the tarmac,” Johnsson said.
“I think it’s very, very open. You’ve got Petter and Oliver Solberg coming back, defending their Nations Cup title. You’ve got the Swedes with Matthias Ekstrom winning the individual event in Sweden, and Mick Schumacher, who lost in the final.
“We’ve got Team USA with Travis Pastrana and Kurt Busch, NASCAR champion. They seem very motivated.
“If I understand correctly, they’ve been out practicing, trying to find race cars and rally cars and taking it extremely seriously, which is great. They really want to win it.
“USA hasn’t won the Nation’s Cup since 2002 and Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Colin Edwards won it.
“Travis has come close a few times, but they’re ultra motivated!”
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