Race of Champions 2025: What it is, how it works and everything you need to know, driver lineup
Four-time F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel was 13 when Cathy Freeman claimed gold in the 400m at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He didn’t quite grasp the enormity of the occasion, but felt the emotions of the crowd through his TV from the tiny German town of Heppenheim, an hour south of Frankfurt.
This weekend, Vettel will get the chance to compete in the same stadium as 4500 tonnes of asphalt transforms what’s usually a footy ground into a pop-up race track for the Race of Champions.
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“My memories go back to the Olympic Games and seeing Cathy Freeman crossing the line and winning gold for Australia,” he told media, including Wide World of Sports.
“I had no clue what it meant at the time, but it was very emotional and powerful and obviously nowadays I understand how powerful it must’ve been for all of Australia.”
Cathy Freeman’s gold in the women’s 400m of the Sydney Olympics captivated a young Sebastian Vettel. Getty/Nine
Despite having flown to Melbourne annually for the better part of two decades during his F1 career, it’s also the first time Vettel had ever been to the Harbour City.
The Race of Champions is a pretty simple concept on paper – two identical cars, driven by some of the biggest names across all of motorsport, racing side-by-side on a 1km figure-of-eight track, located entirely inside a massive stadium.
It’s the first time in the event’s three-decade history it has travelled to the southern hemisphere.
The event pits 20 of the best drivers in the world against each other over two nights of racing. The first night follows a Nations Cup format, where each driver is competing as part of a team representing their home nation, before an individual winner-takes-all Champion of Champions event on the second night.
F1 star Valtteri Bottas will race  Getty
The driver line-up isn’t half bad either – F1 stars Vettel, Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and David Coulthard; nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb; Supercars stars Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown and Chaz Mostert; and Aussie rally legend Molly Taylor among others.
Between them, they share 26 world championships, three Bathurst 1000s, two Supercars championships and a NASCAR Cup title.
It’s stacked, to say the least.
Mostert said he was “truly honoured” to get an albeit late call-up to compete against such a legendary crop of drivers. He was a late replacement for Swedish rally star Mattias Ekstrom.
Sebastian Vettel at the wheel of the Polaris buggy which will be used during the 2025 Race of Champions. Race of Champions
“I think as a young Aussie kid you dream of representing Australia, but also to have the opportunity to (do it) against the best in the world,” he said on Thursday.
Drivers will compete in six types of cars across the weekend. They’re a mixture of production cars, rally cars, an off-road buggy, and the bonkers KTM X-Bow. David Coulthard described it as “speed dating” for race car drivers.
Naturally, the drivers will be stronger in some cars more than others. There’s also the added challenge of switching from left- to right-hand-drive.
“It’s so different to what we’re used to – small stadium circuit, so many different cars and disciplines, it’ll test our adaptability as Supercars drivers but I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Mostert added.
At its core, the Race of Champions is a chance for motorsport to come to the people in a digestible format. It’s a little bit like the T20 of motorsport. But while it might seem like a bit of fun, a switch is flicked in all the drivers when they pull the helmet down.
Accor Stadium has been transformed into a race track ahead of the Race of Champions. 9News
“It’s going to be tricky – you have to have all the margins on your side and you need to be lucky here and there,” seven-time World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson said.
“I’ll just try to have fun and go from there … (but) everyone is competitive.”
2023 Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki – an even later call-up to replace Jamie Whincup, who elected to remain in Queensland to prepare for Cyclone Alfred – is taking a different approach.
“I’ve been taking notes about which hotel rooms they’re staying in so I can play knock and run tonight to try and get the upper hand,” he said.
Racing in the Race of Champions Nations Cup begins 7.30pm (AEDT) Friday.
2025 Race of Champions driver Line-up
Finland
Valtteri Bottas | 10x F1 grand prix winner
Heikki Kovalainen | F1 grand prix winner
Germany
Sebastian Vettel | 4x F1 World Champion
Mick Schumacher | 2020 FIA F1 Champion
USA
Kurt Busch | NASCAR Cup Series champion
Travis Pastrana | 11x X-Games gold medallist, stunt man
Australia (Supercars)
Will Brown | 2024 Supercars Champion
Brodie Kostecki | 2023 Supercars Champion
Australia (Off-Road)
Toby Price | 2x Dakar Rally winner (bikes)
Molly Taylor | World Extreme E and Australian Rally Champion
France
Sebastien Loeb | 9x World Rally Champion, 4x ROC Champion of Champions
Victor Martins | FIA Formula 3 Champion
Great Britain
David Coulthard | 13x F1 grand prix winner
Alister McRae | British and A-Pac Rally Champion
All Stars
Johan Kristoffersson | 7x World Rallycross champion, 2x Extreme E champion
Chaz Mostert | 2x Bathurst 1000 winner
Norway
Petter Solberg | 2x World Rallycross Champion, World Rally Champion
Oliver Solberg | Rising WRC star
New Zealand
Louis Sharp | 2023 British F3 Champion
Hayden Paddon | 2x European Rally Champion
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