2000 Race of Champions

The 2000 Race of Champions took place on December 10 at Gran Canaria. It was the 13th running of the event, and the ninth running at Gran Canaria. The International Masters contest was held for the final time this year before a format shake-up for 2001, which opened up the main competition to non-rally drivers.

The vehicles used were the Peugeot 206 WRC, The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI WRC, the Toyota Corolla WRC, the Saab 93 rallycross car and the ROC Buggy.

The individual competition was won by Tommi Makinen, whilst the Nations' Cup was won by France with Yvan Muller, Gilles Panizzi and Régis Laconi.

Participants edit

Race of Champions edit

Driver Reason for Qualification
  Marcus Grönholm World Rally champion in 2000
  Tommi Mäkinen World Rally champion in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999
  Didier Auriol World Rally champion in 1994
  Gilles Panizzi Seeded
  Armin Schwarz Winner in the International Masters
  Flavio Alonso Replaces Tom Kristensen after beating Niall McShea in a play-off
  Stig Blomqvist Winner in the Legends Race
  Valentino Rossi Invitation

Nations Cup edit

Country Racing Driver Rally Driver Motorcycle Racer
France   Yvan Muller   Gilles Panizzi   Régis Laconi
United States   Danny Sullivan   Rod Millen   Colin Edwards
Finland   Harri Toivonen   Tommi Mäkinen   Vesa Kytönen
Spain   Marc Gené   Jesús Puras   Sete Gibernau
Italy   Emanuele Pirro   Miki Biasion   Valentino Rossi
Germany   Frank Biela   Armin Schwarz   Jürgen Fuchs
Japan   Hiroki Katoh   Kenjiro Shinozuka   Nobuatsu Aoki
All-Stars   Tom Kristensen   Stig Blomqvist   Jeremy McWilliams
  • Marcus Grönholm was to represent the All-Star team, but for an unknown reason his place was taken by Blomqvist.

Legends Race edit

  • Per Eklund & Miki Biasion eliminated in the first round.
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
  Björn Waldegård2
 
 
 
  Hannu Mikkola1
 
  Björn Waldegård0
 
 
 
  Stig Blomqvist2
 
  Stig Blomqvist2
 
 
  Timo Salonen1
 

International Masters edit

  • Flavio Alonso secured his place with the quickest time in the Spanish Masters event.
  • Armin Schwarz and Tom Kristensen were handed automatic byes to the semi-finals.

Group A

Driver Wins
  Niall McShea 2
  Pedro Chaves 2
  Sébastien Loeb 2
  Adruzilo Lopes 0
  • McShea advanced with the fastest best time.

Group B

Driver Wins
  Flavio Alonso 3
  Cody Crocker 2
  Janusz Kulig 1
  Jesús Puras 0
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
  Armin Schwarz2
 
 
 
  Niall McShea0
 
  Armin Schwarz2
 
 
 
  Tom Kristensen0
 
  Tom Kristensen2
 
 
  Flavio Alonso0
 

Race of Champions edit

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
  Marcus Grönholm2
 
 
 
  Stig Blomqvist0
 
  Marcus Grönholm2
 
 
 
  Didier Auriol0
 
  Didier Auriol2
 
 
 
  Armin Schwarz1
 
  Marcus Grönholm0
 
 
 
  Tommi Mäkinen2
 
  Gilles Panizzi2
 
 
 
  Valentino Rossi0
 
  Gilles Panizzi0
 
 
 
  Tommi Mäkinen2
 
  Tommi Mäkinen2
 
 
  Flavio Alonso0
 

Nations' Cup edit

Group A

Team Match Wins Heat Wins Best Total Time
  Italy 3 7 5'52.41
  2 6 5'56.44
  USA 1 5 5'55.56
  0 0 6'06.63

Group B

Team Match Wins Heat Wins Best Total Time
  France 3 7 5'48.82
  Finland 1 4 5'51.76
  All-Stars 1 4 5'56.59
  Germany 1 3 5'52.11
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
  Italy2
 
 
 
  Finland1
 
  Italy0
 
 
 
  France3
 
 0
 
 
  France3
 

References edit

External links edit