New WRC Champion Sébastien Ogier joins ROC field

Fresh from becoming World Rally Champion for the first time, Sébastien Ogier has signed up for the 2013 Race Of Champions, to be held at Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium on the weekend of December 14-15.

Ogier is still smiling after sealing the title on home soil at last weekend’s Rallye de France with a fine drive to victory – more than enough to grab the single point he needed to end up on top. The result crowns a glorious year for the Volkswagen driver, who has dominated the World Rally Championship with no fewer than seven wins.

Now Ogier has revealed that his next challenge will be to regain the ‘Champion of Champions’ title that he won on his ROC debut in 2011, defeating Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen in the Grand Final. Ogier returned to the Race Of Champions last year and reached the ROC Nations Cup final for Team France in partnership with F1 star Romain Grosjean, only to be defeated by Team Germany’s all-conquering duo of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. More silverware now beckons…

Ogier said: “This has been a fantastic year for me and I can think of no better way to round it off than the Race Of Champions. It was amazing to win it on my first visit and of course it is a pleasure to be going back again. It will be especially nice to head to Bangkok with the title of World Rally Champion in the bag at last. Now I can feel like a ‘full’ member of the exclusive group who make up the ROC field! All the champions have proved themselves to be fast in their own categories so as always it will be fun to see who comes out on top. It’s time for someone to give Team Germany a run for their money in the ROC Nations Cup too. So roll on December…”

Held every year since 1988, the Race Of Champions brings together the world’s greatest drivers from motor sport’s main disciplines – including Formula 1, world rally, Le Mans, IndyCar, MotoGP, Nascar, Touring Cars and the X-Games – and sets them free to battle head-to-head in identical machinery.

ROC 2013 will take place on a specially constructed tarmac track with two parallel lanes winding their way round Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium. Drivers pair up for the ROC Nations Cup, this year scheduled for Saturday 14 December, ahead of the individual Race Of Champions on Sunday 15 December.

ROC features stars from all over the world: seven-time F1 world champion Michael Schumacher and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen have already signed up and the rest of the 2013 line-up will be announced in the run-up to December’s event. Last year’s field featured a total of 10 F1 world championships from Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, seven MotoGP titles through Jorge Lorenzo and Mick Doohan plus greats from Le Mans, Touring Cars, V8 Supercars and more.

Race organiser Fredrik Johnsson said: “Congratulations to Sébastien on his brilliant year in the World Rally Championship. He really dominated the series, which comes as no surprise to any of us at ROC because we saw his exceptional ability on his first visit in 2011 when no one had any answer for his pace. Now he will again face greats from F1, Le Mans, IndyCar, Touring Cars and elsewhere as ROC continues to offer a unique chance to see how the world’s big motor sport series match up. We hope to see plenty of rally fans cheering on their new world champion in Bangkok.”