9-time Rally World Champion Sebastien Loeb again proved why he is regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time by winning a record fifth Race Of Champions title at Sydney’s Accor Stadium this weekend.
Loeb upset the parochial home Australian crowd by defeating Supercars star Chaz Mostert in the final.
Loeb took the early advantage in the final when he beat Mostert to the line by just 0.27 of a second in the opening heat in a Polaris RZR and then wrapped up the “best of three” contest with a 0.16-second winning margin in the FC2 Rallycross cars.
Loeb, 51, was provided a first-round bye as the highest-seeded Off-Road driver in the field and won his way through to the final with two wins against Australian Molly Taylor in the quarter finals and then two victories against young rally ace Oliver Solberg in the semi-final.
Saturday night’s victory capped off another fantastic ROC event for Loeb, who clinched last night’s ROC Nation’s Cup with young French open-wheel ace Victor Martins.
In doing so, he became the first driver to “do the double” in the 33-year history of the event.
Loeb was crowned ROC Champion of Champions in 2003, 2005, 2008, and 2022.
He won nine consecutive World Rally Championships from 2004 to 2012 in one of world motorsport’s most dominant performances ever.
His WRC career included a record 80 event wins, 120 podium finishes, and 939 stage victories.
He has recently finished second at Dakar three times (2017, 2022, and 2023) and third in 2024.
Mostert, a two-time Bathurst 1000 winner and class winner at the Spa 24-hour and Daytona 24-hour, was a late replacement in the ROC event for Swedish driver Mattias Ekström, who had to withdraw on medical grounds.
He joined Johan Kristoffersson in a special Team All Stars squad for last night’s ROC Nations Cup before tonight’s individual Champion of Champions battle.
Mostert showed his versatility to overcome F1 star Valtteri Bottas and NASCAR Champion Kurt Busch in the opening group races.
He then went head-to-head with four-time German Formula 1 World champion Sebastian Vettel and beat him by 0.37 of a second in a Subaru BRZ tS before clinching a semi-final spot with a win in a Supercar Lite Rallycross car.
That win put him in the semi-final against reigning Supercars champion Will Brown, guaranteeing that an Australian would be in the final.
Brown had won his way into the semi-final after two quarter-final race wins against former world F2 champion and F1 driver Mick Schumacher.
Mostert beat Brown by 0.14 of a second in a Polaris RZR in heat one and 0.24 of a second in the FC2 Rallycross car in heat two.
Tonight, all 20 drivers battled it out Head-to-Head in two identical cars in each heat. The range of cars included the FC2 Rallycross, Supercar Lite Rallycross, KTM X-Bow Comp R, Polaris RZR Pro R, Subaru BRZ t,S and Toyota GR86 Cup machines.
What Sébastien Loeb said: “To win the fifth ROC Champion of Champions is great for me,” said Loeb. “It is also special to become the first driver to win both the ROC Nations Cup and the Champion of Champions at the same event. It really could not have been a better weekend for us. Once we won the Nations Cup, I had achieved something from the event, and I could relax and enjoy myself even more. When I first came to the Race Of Champions I was a young driver and every time it is different. But the atmosphere is always the same, everyone is having fun and all the drivers are happy to share and discuss things and enjoy a few drinks. In the car, of course you want to win, but outside we are having a good time. I have to thank Fredrik (Johnsson) and his team for putting on another great event.”