The line-up for the 2018 Race of Champions is complete and the draw for the Nations Cup and individual Champion of Champions has been finalised.
Saudi Arabia is hosting the event at the King Fahad stadium in Riyadh, which will feature some of the best drivers from series including Formula 1, IndyCar, Le Mans, Rallycross and Touring Cars.
2017 RoC champion Juan Pablo Montoya faces a tough challenge to defend his title after being drawn against former IndyCar rivals Ryan Hunter-Reay and Helio Castroneves. Rene Rast and Timo Bernhard step in for team Germany as Sebastian Vettel will not be appearing to defend the Nations Cup title which he won single-handedly in Miami 12 months ago.
This is also the first event to feature E-sports as part of the competition; F1 E-sports Champion Brandon Leigh is taking part in the eROC along with triple Project CARS World Champion Kevin Leaune, iRacing Blancpain GT3 Sprint champion and multiple world record holder in Assetto Corsa and F1 2017 Enzo Bonito, and 2017 eWTCC Champion Alexander Dornieden.
The winner of the eROC will get to compete in the main event against the real racers alongside Rudy Van Buren, who was invited by the organisers after winning McLaren's 'Worlds Fastest Gamer' competition.
The action begins ROC Nations Cup will take place on Friday 2 February ahead of the individual Race of Champions on Saturday 3.
Group A
Team Germany (Timo Bernhard & René Rast)
Team Latin America (Juan Pablo Montoya & Helio Castroneves)
Team Mexico (Memo Rojas & Abraham Calderon)
Team USA (Ryan Hunter-Reay & Josef Newgarden)
Group B
Team Nordic (Tom Kristensen & Petter Solberg)
Team GB (David Coulthard & Lando Norris)
Team Sweden (Johan Kristoffersson & Joel Eriksson)
Team Sim Racing All-Stars (Rudy van Buren & eROC winner)
Group C
Team Saudi Arabia (Yazeed Al-Rajhi & ROC Factor Saudi Arabia winner)
Team UAE (Khaled Al Qubaisi & Khalid Al Qassimi)
Team Lebanon (Karl Massaad & Mansour Chebli)
The winners of each group will progress to the semi-finals, along with the leading runner-up from Groups A and B. The knockout rounds are best-of-three: if scores are tied at 1-1 after the first two heats, the third decisive heat is always contested by the two winning drivers.
Race Of Champions Draw.
Group A
Juan-Pablo Montoya (Colombia) reigning ROC Champion of Champions
Helio Castroneves (Brazil) Triple Indianapolis 500 winner
Ryan Hunter-Reay (USA) 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner
Winner of Round 1 between Memo Rojas and Abraham Calderon
Group B
Tom Kristensen (Denmark) Nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner
David Coulthard (Great Britain) 13-time Formula 1 grand prix winner
Timo Bernhard (Germany) 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours winner
Winner of Round 1 between Rudy van Buren and the eROC winner
Group C
Johan Kristofferson (Sweden) 2017 FIA World Rallycross ChRaston
René Rast (Germany) 2017 DTM Champion
Lando Norris (Great Britain) 2017 European F3 Champion
Winner of Round 1 between Joel Eriksson and fastest driver from Lebanon in ROC factor Middle East
Group D
Josef Newgarden (USA) 2017 IndyCar Champion
Petter Solberg (Norway) Double FIA World Rallycross Champion
Yazeed Al-Rahji (Saudi Arabia) WRC2 rally winner
Winner of Round 1 between fastest driver from UAE in ROC Factor Middle East and ROC Factor Saudi Arabia winner
The top two from each group will progress to the quarter-finals, then it’s a straight knockout tournament to the best-of-three Grand Final, in which the ROC Champion of Champions will be crowned.
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