2003 Race of Champions

2003 Race of Champions

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The 2003 Race of Champions took place on November 28–30 at Gran Canaria for the final time. It was also the last year for three-car teams in the Nations' Cup (including one motorcycle racer), with the focus on rally drivers fading after this year's event due to the later stadium-based venues using all-tarmac tracks.

The vehicles used were the Peugeot 206 WRC, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII Group N, the Subaru Impreza WRX and the ROC Buggy.

The individual competition was won by Sébastien Loeb, whilst the Nations' Cup was won by the All-Star line-up of Fonsi Nieto, Gilles Panizzi and Cristiano da Matta.

Participants

Country	Racing Driver	Rally Driver	Motorcycle Racer
France	Olivier Panis	Sébastien Loeb	Randy de Puniet
United States	Boris Said	Casey Mears	Travis Pastrana
Great Britain	Guy Smith	David Higgins	James Toseland
Finland	JJ Lehto	Timo Salonen	Samuli Aro
Spain	Oriol Servià	Flavio Alonso	Emilio Alzamora
Sweden	Björn Wirdheim	Daniel Carlsson	Tony Rickardsson
Italy	Rinaldo Capello	Renato Travaglia	Alessandro Gramigni
Germany	Sven Heidfeld	Armin Kremer	Alex Hofmann
All-Stars	Cristiano da Matta	Gilles Panizzi	Fonsi Nieto

• Nick Heidfeld was originally confirmed for Germany but had prior commitments, his brother Sven taking his place.
• Johnny Herbert was originally confirmed for Great Britain but had prior commitments, Smith taking his place.
• Marcus Grönholm was to represent Finland, but due to testing commitments could not arrive in time for the Nations Cup. Salonen took his place.
• Kenny Brack was to represent Sweden, but due to injury sustained in a CART accident Wirdheim took his place.

Junior Rally Masters

Group stage

Driver	Races	Wins	Losses	Best Time
François Duval	3	3	0	2:10.04
Daniel Carlsson	3	2	1	2:09.28
Txus Jaio	3	1	2	2:19.27
Francisco Suárez	3	0	3	2:10.66

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Daniel Carlsson	2:15.11		François Duval	2:13.13
Txus Jaio	2:19.27		Francisco Suárez	DNF
François Duval	2:11.68		Txus Jaio	02:15.78
Francisco Suárez	2:23.69 (penalty)		Daniel Carlsson	2:11.51
François Duval	2:10.04		Francisco Suárez	2:10.66
Txus Jaio	2:12.10		Daniel Carlsson	2:09.28

Final

	Final
	François Duval	1
	Daniel Carlsson	0

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
François Duval	1:59.04		Daniel Carlsson	1:59.76

Nations' Cup

Group stage

Group A

Pos.	Team	Races	Wins	Losses	Total Time	Driver	Wins	Losses	Best Time
1	Sweden	6	4	2	6:00.60	Daniel Carlsson	1	1	1:56.77
						Björn Wirdheim	1	1	2:01.13
						Tony Rickardsson	2	0	2:02.70
2	Finland	6	3	3	5:56.92	Timo Salonen	1	1	1:57.69
						JJ Lehto	2	0	1:59.32
						Samuli Aro	0	2	1:59.91
3	France	6	2	4	5:56.15	Sébastien Loeb	1	1	1:56.05
						Olivier Panis	0	2	2:00.19
						Randy de Puniet	1	1	1:59.91

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Finland		2-1	Sweden
Samuli Aro	2:05.68		Tony Rickardsson	2:02.70
JJ Lehto	1:59.77		Björn Wirdheim	2:03.58
Timo Salonen	1:59.93		Daniel Carlsson	2:14.20 (penalty)
Sweden		3-0	France
Tony Rickardsson	2:03.24		Randy de Puniet	2:13.09 (penalty)
Björn Wirdheim	2:01.13		Olivier Panis	2:02.42
Daniel Carlsson	1:56.77		Sébastien Loeb	2:06.91 (penalty)
France		2-1	Finland
Randy de Puniet	1:59.91		Samuli Aro	1:59.91
Olivier Panis	2:00.19		JJ Lehto	1:59.32
Sébastien Loeb	1:56.05		Timo Salonen	1:57.69

Group B

Pos.	Team	Races	Wins	Losses	Total Time	Driver	Wins	Losses	Best Time
1	Spain	6	6	0	5:51.52	Flavio Alonso	2	0	1:56.81
						Oriol Servià	2	0	1:57.53
						Emilio Alzamora	2	0	1:57.18
2	Italy	6	2	4	6:00.73	Renato Travaglia	1	1	1:56.92
						Rinaldo Capello	1	1	1:59.84
						Alessandro Gramigni	0	2	2:03.97
3	Great Britain	6	1	5	6:03.51	David Higgins	0	2	1:57.72
						Guy Smith	0	2	2:03.73
						James Toseland	1	1	2:02.06

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Italy		2-1	Great Britain
Alessandro Gramigni	2:03.97		James Toseland	2:02.06
Rinaldo Capello	2:00.05		Guy Smith	2:03.73
Renato Travaglia	1:56.92		David Higgins	3:30.70
Great Britain		0-3	Spain
James Toseland	DNF		Emilio Alzamora	1:58.83
Guy Smith	2:25.56		Oriol Servià	2:00.49
David Higgins	1:57.72		Flavio Alonso	1:56.81
Spain		3-0	Italy
Emilio Alzamora	1:57.18		Alessandro Gramigni	2:11.34 (penalty)
Oriol Servià	1:57.53		Rinaldo Capello	1:59.84
Flavio Alonso	1:56.96		Renato Travaglia	1:57.45

Group C

Pos.	Team	Races	Wins	Losses	Total Time	Driver	Wins	Losses	Best Time
1	All-Stars	6	4	2	5:55.38	Gilles Panizzi	2	0	1:58.15
						Cristiano da Matta	2	0	1:57.37
						Fonsi Nieto	0	2	1:59.86
2	USA	6	3	3	5:55.06	Casey Mears	0	2	1:59.92
						Boris Said	1	1	1:59.79
						Travis Pastrana	2	0	1:55.35
3	Germany	6	2	4	5:57.55	Armin Kremer	1	1	1:58.47
						Sven Heidfeld	0	2	2:00.97
						Alex Hofmann	1	1	1:58.11

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
USA		2-1	Germany
Travis Pastrana	1:57.16		Alex Hofmann	2:01.41
Boris Said	2:03.04		Sven Heidfeld	2:03.25
Casey Mears	1:59.92		Armin Kremer	1:48.57
Germany		1-2	All-Stars
Alex Hofmann	1:58.11		Fonsi Nieto	1:59.86
Sven Heidfeld	2:00.97		Cristiano da Matta	1:59.25
Armin Kremer	1:58.74		Gilles Panizzi	1:58.15
All-Stars		2-1	USA
Fonsi Nieto	2:00.60		Travis Pastrana	1:55.35
Cristiano da Matta	1:57.37		Boris Said	1:59.79
Gilles Panizzi	1:58.18		Casey Mears	2:02.85

• USA progress to the semi-finals by having the fastest total time of the losing teams.

Best Times

Pos.	Rally		Racing		Motorcycle
	Driver	Best Time	Driver	Best Time	Driver	Best Time
1	Sébastien Loeb	1:56.05	Cristiano da Matta	1:57.37	Travis Pastrana	1:55.35
2	Daniel Carlsson	1:56.77	Oriol Servià	1:57.53	Emilio Alzamora	1:57.18
3	Flavio Alonso	1:56.81	JJ Lehto	1:59.32	Alex Hofmann	1:58.11
4	Renato Travaglia	1:56.92	Boris Said	1:59.79	Fonsi Nieto	1:59.86
5	Timo Salonen	1:57.69	Rinaldo Capello	1:59.84	Samuli Aro	1:59.91
6	David Higgins	1:57.72	Olivier Panis	2:00.19	Randy de Puniet	1:59.91
7	Gilles Panizzi	1:58.15	Sven Heidfeld	2:00.97	James Toseland	2:02.06
8	Armin Kremer	1:58.47	Björn Wirdheim	2:01.13	Tony Rickardsson	2:02.70
9	Casey Mears	1:59.92	Guy Smith	2:03.73	Alessandro Gramigni	2:03.97

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	Spain	3
	Sweden	0
					Spain	2
					All-Stars	3
	All-Stars	3
	USA	2

Semifinals

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Spain		3-0	Sweden
Emilio Alzamora	2:00.69		Tony Rickardsson	2:02.07
Oriol Servià	2:00.48		Björn Wirdheim	2:02.91
Flavio Alonso	1:54.58		Daniel Carlsson	1:55.45
All-Stars		3–2	United States
Fonsi Nieto	DNF		Travis Pastrana	2:28.61
Cristiano da Matta	1:59.51		Boris Said	2:00.30
Gilles Panizzi	1:53.88		Casey Mears	1:56.34
Fonsi Nieto	2:02.23		Travis Pastrana	1:56.59
Cristiano da Matta	1:57.75		Boris Said	2:00.61

Final

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Spain		2-3	All-Stars
Emilio Alzamora	1:58.15		Fonsi Nieto	2:02.42
Oriol Servià	1:59.30		Cristiano da Matta	1:58.45
Flavio Alonso	1:53.37		Gilles Panizzi	1:52.62
Emilio Alzamora	1:56.92		Fonsi Nieto	1:59.26
Oriol Servià	1:59.73		Cristiano da Matta	1:57.98

Race of Champions

Participation in the main Race of Champions was awarded primarily on the basis of having the best times in the Nations' Cup. There were several exceptions to this rule however - Marcus Grönholm, as the defending champion, was guaranteed a spot, whilst Cristiano da Matta, despite having the best time among racing drivers in the Nations' Cup, did not participate. François Duval secured his place by winning the Junior event, Dani Sordo won the Spanish Masters event, Timo Salonen was an invited 'seeded' driver and Martin Rowe was invited for having won the 2003 PWRC title. Thomas Biagi meanwhile earned his place by beating FIA GT teammate Matteo Bobbi and Volkswagen Cup UK winner Rob Carvell.

Group stage

Group A

Driver	Races	Wins	Losses	Best Time
Renato Travaglia	3	3	0	1:58.07
Dani Sordo	3	1	2	2:03.68
Timo Salonen	3	1	2	2:06.47
Martin Rowe	3	1	2	2:07.45

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Dani Sordo	DNF		Renato Travaglia	1:58.07
Martin Rowe	2:07.45		Timo Salonen	2:07.71
Timo Salonen	2:06.47		Dani Sordo	2:15 47 (penalty)
Renato Travaglia	2:04.27		Martin Rowe	2:05.80
Dani Sordo	2:03.68		Martin Rowe	2:14.38 (penalty)
Timo Salonen	2:08.11		Renato Travaglia	2:04.33

Group B

Driver	Races	Wins	Losses	Best Time
Flavio Alonso	3	3	0	1:54.50
Oriol Servià	3	2	1	1:54.03
Emilio Alzamora	3	1	2	1:56.67
Thomas Biagi	3	0	3	1:56.77

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Oriol Servià	1:55.71		Emilio Alzamora	1:59.99
Thomas Biagi	2:02.72		Flavio Alonso	1:57.05
Flavio Alonso	1:54.84		Oriol Servià	1:55.64
Emilio Alzamora	1:56.67		Thomas Biagi	2:07.61 (penalty)
Emilio Alzamora	1:54.53		Flavio Alonso	1:54.50
Oriol Servià	1:54.03		Thomas Biagi	1:56.77

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Sébastien Loeb	2
	Daniel Carlsson	0
					Sébastien Loeb	2
					François Duval	0
	Flavio Alonso	0
	François Duval	2
									Sébastien Loeb	2
									Marcus Grönholm	0
	Marcus Grönholm	1
	Travis Pastrana	0
					Marcus Grönholm	2
					Gilles Panizzi	1
	Gilles Panizzi	2
	Renato Travaglia	0

Quarterfinals

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Sébastien Loeb	1:56.96		Daniel Carlsson	1:57.90
Sébastien Loeb	1:51.67		Daniel Carlsson	1:52.38
Flavio Alonso	1:57.13		François Duval	1:57.03
Flavio Alonso	1:52.30		François Duval	1:52.05
Marcus Grönholm	1:56.51		Travis Pastrana	2:37.21
Gilles Panizzi	1:58.21		Renato Travaglia	1:58.57
Gilles Panizzi	1:53.60		Renato Travaglia	1:53.67

Semifinals

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Sébastien Loeb	1:56.55		François Duval	1:56.60
Sébastien Loeb	1:51.85		François Duval	1:52.30
Marcus Grönholm	1:57.07		Gilles Panizzi	1:57.64
Marcus Grönholm	1:53.53		Gilles Panizzi	1:53.46
Marcus Grönholm	1:52.18		Gilles Panizzi	1:53.05

Final

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Sébastien Loeb	1:56.15		Marcus Grönholm	1:56.45
Sébastien Loeb	1:52.30		Marcus Grönholm	1:53.09

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20050203014113/http://www.carreradecampeones.org/