The Race of Champions has unveiled a full entry list for its inaugural virtual event, headlined by Haas Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean and Formula E drivers Stoffel Vandoorne, Antonio Felix da Costa and Rene Rast.
Grosjean, who has recently established his own simracing outfit and finished fourth in class in the iRacing Le Mans 24 Hours, won the real-life Race of Champions back in 2012, beating Tom Kristensen in the final.
The Haas driver will take part in the individual contests, joining two-time DTM champion and new Audi Formula E recruit Rene Rast, reigning World Rallycross champion Timmy Hansen and rally driver Benito Guerra (who won last year’s ROC event) in Group D.
Mercedes Formula E driver Vandoorne will slot into Group A, facing off against BMW factory driver Bruno Spengler, sportscar star Raffaele Marciello and Haas F1 reserve Louis Deletraz – the latter two having teamed up to win the virtual Le Mans 24 Hours earlier this month (pictured below).
Formula E points leader da Costa will be joined by IndyCar’s Colton Herta, W Series frontrunner Beitske Visser and two-time NASCAR Mexico champion Ruben Garcia Jr in Group B.
Finally, Group C will feature a pair of World Rallycross champions and ex-team-mates in Petter Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson, along with touring car legend Andy Priaulx and WEC LMP2 championship leader Filipe Albuquerque.
The event will be held on Assetto Corsa on June 28 and feature past venues from ROC history.
ROC’s simracing counterpart event eROC will host its World Final that same day, and will be contested by Nils Naujoks and Arthur Kammerer – two drivers who have qualified for the event through hotlaps – along with past winners Enzo Bonito and World’s Fastest Gamer winner James Baldwin.
The winner of the eROC Grand Final will determine the final make-up of the Nations Cup portion of the virtual Race of Champions.
A win for Naujoks or Kammerer will pair the respective winner with Rast to make up Team Germany, while Ferrari F1 Esports driver Bonito will be partnered by ex-Ferrari junior Marciello in Team Italy should he triumph.
If Baldwin emerges victorious, he will team up with Grosjean.
Whichever line-up ends up qualifying for the event will slot into Group B alongside the Portuguese pairing of da Costa and Albuquerque, and the Mexico line-up of Guerra and Garcia.
Kristoffersson and Hansen will make up Team Sweden in Group A, which will also feature two father-son duos – Petter and Oliver Solberg in Team Norway, and Andy and Seb Priaulx in Team GB.
