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
Race of Champions DriverReason for Qualification Marcus GrönholmWorld Rally champion in 2000 Tommi MäkinenWorld Rally champion in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999 Didier AuriolWorld Rally champion in 1994 Gilles PanizziSeeded Armin SchwarzWinner in the International Masters Flavio AlonsoReplaces Tom Kristensen after beating Niall McShea in a play-off Stig BlomqvistWinner in the Legends Race Valentino RossiInvitation
Nations Cup
CountryRacing DriverRally DriverMotorcycle RacerFrance Yvan Muller Gilles Panizzi Régis LaconiUnited States Danny Sullivan Rod Millen Colin EdwardsFinland Harri Toivonen Tommi Mäkinen Vesa KytönenSpain Marc Gené Jesús Puras Sete GibernauItaly Emanuele Pirro Miki Biasion Valentino RossiGermany Frank Biela Armin Schwarz Jürgen FuchsJapan Hiroki Katoh Kenjiro Shinozuka Nobuatsu AokiAll-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 Per Eklund & Miki Biasion eliminated in the first round.
International Masters
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 DriverWins Niall McShea2 Pedro Chaves 2 Sébastien Loeb 2 Adruzilo Lopes0
McShea advanced with the fastest best time.
Group B DriverWins Flavio Alonso3 Cody Crocker 2 Janusz Kulig 1 Jesús Puras 0
Race of Champions
Nations' Cup Group A
TeamMatch WinsHeat WinsBest Total Time Italy375'52.41265'56.44155'55.56006'06.63
Group B
TeamMatch WinsHeat WinsBest Total Time375'48.82 Finland145'51.76 All-Stars145'56.59 Germany135'52.11
References
External links Information sourced from http://www.atodomotor.com/pagina/ROC.html