FIA World Rallycross Champion Petter Solberg will be among the starters at December’s Race Of Champions at Bushy Park.
The newly crowned Norwegian driver dominated this year’s inaugural championship with four victories, sealing the title last week with two rounds to spare.
The World Rallycross Championship (World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoters IMG Motorsport and is made up of 12 two-day events driven on mixed-surface closed circuits. It is made up of four initial heats, two semi-finals and one final.
“Doing a 60km rally stage is no problem, but four laps on a rallycross track with all the other crazy people around you is like a heart attack, so I really hope that experience can help at the Race of Champions because I want to give it a proper shot and fight hard to win in Barbados,” Solberg added.
“When I do things I want to do them 110 per cent.”
The Norwegian also won the 2003 World Rally Championship and has now secured his place in driving’s elite by reaching the top of the world in two different fields of motor sport.
Such a blend of ability – coupled with his recent experience of the exciting all-action short-track racing that makes up rallycross – is sure to stand Solberg in good stead as he bids for more glory at the Race Of Champions in Barbados.
He joins a ROC line-up featuring stars from all over the world: nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen, Formula 1’s Romain Grosjean, the reigning ROC Champion of Champions; Australian V8 Supercar legend Jamie Whincup and this year’s Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.
ROC organiser Fredrik Johnsson said the Bushy Park circuit was one of the most popular venues in voting and they are very excited to be heading to Barbados for another festival of motor sport and entertainment.
“This marks a break from our last ten years of stadium events but this is a throwback to our long-time home at Gran Canaria, which hosted ROC from 1992 to 2003. We will certainly return to stadium events in the future but for 2014 we will take advantage of the available space to build a truly spectacular parallel track at Bushy Park,” Johnsson added.
Last year’s event was cancelled due to political unrest in host country Thailand.
