Race of Champions 2005!!!

NYSpeed Automotive
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It’s about that time again folks! It started already :slight_smile:

2005 Race of Champions entry list:

BENELUX: Christijan Albers (HOL/F1) + François Duval (BEL/WRC).

BRAZIL: Felipe Massa (F1) + Nelson Piquet Jr. (GP2/A1GP).

FINLAND: Marcus Grönholm (WRC) + Heikki Kovalainen (GP2).

FRANCE: Jean Alesi (DTM) + Sébastien Loeb (WRC).

TEAM PLAYSTATION FRANCE: Sébastien Bourdais (Champ Car) + Stéphane Peterhansel (Rally-raid).

GERMANY: Bernd Schneider (DTM) + Armin Schwarz (WRC).

GREAT BRITAIN: David Coulthard (F1) + Colin McRae (WRC).

SCANDINAVIA: Tom Kristensen (DEN/Endurance) + Mattias Ekström (SWE/DTM).

UNITED STATES: Jeff Gordon (NASCAR) + Travis Pastrana (X-GAMES).

Wild card entries (competing in the individual Race of Champions only): Dani Sordo (SPA/WRC) and Dan Wheldon (GBR/IRL)

So who’s gonna win? This year’s car lineup:

http://www.rsportscars.com/foto/07/xsarawrc04.jpg

Citroën Xsara WRC

http://www.speedtv.com/_assets/library/img/large/89697_sbo.jpg

ROC Car (a buggy powered by a Honda Blackbird motorcycle engine)

Porsche 911 GT3

Renault Mégane Trophy.

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Had to go with great britan, that coulthard McRea combo looks tough to beat

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First draws have already been announced :slight_smile:

preliminary RoC round:

Gordon vs. Albers
Bourdais vs. Wheldon
Piquet Jr. vs. Ekstrom
Coulthard vs. Kristensen.

The winners of these races will qualify for the quarter-final stage which will also feature:

Kovalainen vs. Schneider
Alesi vs. Massa
Grönholm v Peterhansel
Duval vs. Sordo
McRae vs. Schwarz
Loeb vs. Pastrana.

I can’t wait to see that last one. We’ll see how much Travis has learned after one season of Rally America.

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Official Website for those who want to check it out:

http://www.raceofchampions.com/

This Renault Trophy car is TITS. Gran Turismo 5 better have it in the lineup :shoot:

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us

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Oh Yes, and write in your vote for winner of the individual competition.

I can’t bet against Loeb. He’s going to take it all.

Pastrana and Crash McRae are my dark horses.

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I will be watching the ROC in HD tomorrow after it’s tivo’d

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I think Team France is going to take it.

Loeb will take the overall, Peterhansel is my backup pick

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It’s in HD? Aww shit, gotta check my programming guide when I get home. HDNet I would assume?

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that renault car looks sweet. when is this on, and what channel?

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According to the official website, they will broadcast live and commercial free :tup: on HDNet 12/3/2005 @ 16:00 / 21:00 CET

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yeah i just saw that…thanks, but i dont know if i can get hdnet through adelphia can i? i might have to watch this at someone elses house.

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Yes you can. I have it. The only catch is it’s HD. If your TV is not HD ready, you won’t see shit.

I’m going to set it to tape, so if you want to come over, just call me. There will probably be quite a few people over actually now that I think about it.

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Agreed. Especially since he’ll be practically driving his own rally car.

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I hate to say it but team France looks to almost be a shoe in with Loeb behind the wheel. They could probably get a blind deaf monkey to be his teammate and they would still find a way to win. I do think that Finland will give France a good run though if they meet.

And should I bring the pizza or the drinks Rick.

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i will most likely be joining you then. this is too sweet to miss

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Sweet, I need to find some way to watch this!

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Looks like the replacement for the Clio Cup car. I approve. :tup:

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Well, not one of the 9 people who actually cared enough to vote got it right…

OTOH, the individual competition had the expected outcome. I do think Jeff Gordon got robbed though. As did the couple of other drivers that experienced mechanical difficulties with the cars.

I’ve also come to the conclusion that Gronholm is the biggest whiner in the WRC… :cry:

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hahaha. Yeah, Gordon got robbed. I think Gordon would have made the finals if not for the mechanical/ecu glitch. REBOOT!!!

At any rate, Jeff Gordon showed once again why he is one of the few drivers in Nascar that I can actually respect. He did the USA proud last night.