Michael Schumacher to participate in Michelin Race of Champions | FerrariChat

Michael Schumacher to participate in Michelin Race of Champions

Discussion in 'F1' started by speedy_sam, Jul 26, 2004.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. speedy_sam

    speedy_sam F1 Veteran

    Jul 13, 2004
    5,559
    TX
    Full Name:
    Sameer
    #1 speedy_sam, Jul 26, 2004
    On "Wind Tunnel" with Dave Despain today, he mentioned that Michael Schumacher will race in the Michelin Race of Champions that will be held this year. To those who are not familiar with this race it pits rally drivers, F1 drivers, bikers and other racers against each other in rally cars across a dirt circuit. The drivers race for their country - there are teams of 3 drivers or so per representing each country. Also the drivers have an elimination round that decides the winner.

    The race is traditionally held in the Canary Islands but is being held in Paris this year - the event is on December 4.

    Last year Sebastien Loeb was the overall winner beating Marcus Gronholm in the end. The year before Jeff Gordon did a masterful job shocking the Europeans who thought he would be a push over.

    As an aside one of the key coordinators of this race is Michele Mouton who was an ace rally driver in the 80s ... she used to drive for Audi.
     
  2. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

    Nov 20, 2002
    17,673
    Tauranga, NZ
    Full Name:
    Pete
    #2 PSk, Jul 27, 2004
    That will be interesting.

    Finally a race without any sort of team orders too :rolleyes: :eek: :p

    Pete ;)
    BTW: Imperial83, it's called a joke ... and yes the interesting part is me being serious.
     
  3. jordan747_400

    jordan747_400 F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Dec 9, 2002
    6,928
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Jordan
    #3 jordan747_400, Jul 27, 2004
    Anyone know if this will be televised?

    I wonder how some of these F1 drivers do on the dirt? They are all such great drivers Id imagine they can do anything :)
     
  4. Mr Payne

    Mr Payne F1 Rookie

    Jan 8, 2004
    2,878
    Bakersfield, CA
    Full Name:
    Payne
    #4 Mr Payne, Jul 27, 2004

    I saw the 2002 race of champions on Speed.
     
  5. DGS

    DGS Six Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    May 27, 2003
    60,622
    MidTN
    Full Name:
    DGS
    #5 DGS, Jul 27, 2004
    Speed Channel carried coverage of the '02 and '03 events in spring of '04. The '04 event might be on sometime during a slow schedule period in spring '05.

    In '02, Gordon's efforts took the US to the "Nation's Cup" team championship. Gordon had to leave early, and Gronholm won the "Race of Champions" individual event.

    In '03, they added an "AllStars" team (e.g. ringers), who edged out the yanks in elimination, and went on to win the Nation's Cup. Loeb beat out Gronholm for the ROC. Gronholm was not on any team for the NC.

    Michael will apparently be on the German team. http://www.imp.mc/rocwebsite/_press/releases_2004/rel_21072004gb.htm

    Watching the '02 and '03 coverage, though, I noticed that it's not that the yank circle drivers were better, it's just that they're crazier. They don't know enough to slow for turns. With the high banks on much of the track, they sometimes got away with it. They did some serious damage to the cars, though. (Nice to know the EVO can withstand that much damage. ;) )

    I'm hoping SC will cover the '04 event, as the '03 collected not only the world's best drivers, but a nice selection of race babes too. ;)

    One odd feature was the ride-alongs - where people got to ride along on the performance stages. Gallery pictures from previous events can be found under "press info" at http://www.raceofchampions.com/
     
  6. imperial83

    imperial83 F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    May 14, 2004
    2,893
    #6 imperial83, Jul 27, 2004
    The Race of Champions is a fun event. It can be viewed live in the states on some satellite pay channels from Germany and England. Speed TV broadcasts the event delayed after a long time.
     
  7. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
    2,684
    East Coast
    Full Name:
    Jon K.
    #7 FLATOUTRACING, Jul 27, 2004
    Has anyone actually heard this from the "horse's" mouth. I find this highly unlikely given that MS refused to take up Colin McCrae offer a few years ago to compete in both an F1 car and a WRC car to see who earned the title of "fastest man alive".

    MS stated that he wasn't interested due to the lack of saftey in driving a WRC car on a rally stage.

    Would be great to see but I doubt it will happen. Ferrari doesn't like MS playing soccer so I can't see them getting excited to see him in a WRC type buggy.

    Regards,

    Jon P. Kofod
    www.flatoutracing.net
     
  8. imperial83

    imperial83 F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    May 14, 2004
    2,893
    #8 imperial83, Jul 27, 2004
    The "horse's" mouth

    The 'Speed Channel' also reports that Michael Schumacher will contest the novel rally-raid event 'Race of Champions' in December, to be held in Paris. « I've seen it on TV before, » said the German, « and it looks like fun. »

    GMM / CAPSIS International
    www.f1live.com
     
  9. speedy_sam

    speedy_sam F1 Veteran

    Jul 13, 2004
    5,559
    TX
    Full Name:
    Sameer
    #9 speedy_sam, Jul 27, 2004
    Well this is different from a racing in Rally. It is a figure of 8 gravel circuit inside a stadium - so it is quite safe. There are no stages/trees/etc like a real rally.

    WRC cars are safe - last year Gronholm took Jeff Gordon on a sortie just to show him how its done and promptly toppled the car on its roof after hitting a corner too hard.

    Yes its real. Go to the website http://www.imp.mc/rocwebsite/index.htm for info on the event.

    Ferrari dont like MS playing soccer but they haven't stopped him have they? Michael can pretty much do what he wants...

     
  10. Paul Vincent

    Paul Vincent Formula Junior

    Apr 3, 2004
    478
    #10 Paul Vincent, Jul 27, 2004
    If I were Ferrari, I'd let Michael race MotoGP before I'd let him rally.
     
  11. speedy_sam

    speedy_sam F1 Veteran

    Jul 13, 2004
    5,559
    TX
    Full Name:
    Sameer
    #11 speedy_sam, Jul 27, 2004
    This is not a rally!

     
  12. imperial83

    imperial83 F1 Rookie
    BANNED

    May 14, 2004
    2,893
    #12 imperial83, Jul 27, 2004

Share This Page