2002 Race of Champions

The 2002 Race of Champions took place on November 29 to December 1 at Gran Canaria. It was the 15th running of the event, and the 11th at Gran Canaria.

The vehicles used were the Peugeot 206 WRC, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Group N, the SEAT Córdoba WRC and the ROC Buggy.

The individual competition was won by Marcus Grönholm, whilst the Nations' Cup was won by USA with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Colin Edwards.

Participants

Country	Racing Driver	Rally Driver	Motorcycle Racer
France	Sébastien Bourdais	Sébastien Loeb	Mickaël Maschio
United States	Jeff Gordon	Jimmie Johnson	Colin Edwards
Great Britain	James Thompson	Robbie Head	James Haydon
Finland	JJ Lehto	Marcus Grönholm	Kari Tiainen
Spain	Fernando Alonso	Jesús Puras	Carlos Checa
Sweden	Kenny Brack	Thomas Rådström	Tony Rickardsson
Italy	Fabrizio Giovanardi	Renato Travaglia	Marco Melandri
Germany	Nick Heidfeld	Walter Röhrl	Pit Beirer
Brazil	Cristiano da Matta	Antônio Pizzonia	Alex Barros

Junior Rally Masters

Group stage

Driver	Races	Wins	Losses	Best Time
François Duval	3	3	0	2:12.00
Francisco Suárez	3	2	1	2:17.47
Dani Solà	3	1	2	2:17.54
Niall McShea	3	0	3	2:18.09

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
François Duval	2:15.37		Dani Solà	2:19.26
Francisco Suárez	2:19.89		Niall McShea	2:22.01
Niall McShea	2:19.76		François Duval	2:14.01
Dani Solà	2:19.58		Francisco Suárez	2:17.47
Francisco Suárez	2:15.41		François Duval	2:12.00
Dani Solà	2:17.54		Niall McShea	2:18.09

Final

	Final
	François Duval	2
	Francisco Suárez	0

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
François Duval	2:10.92		Francisco Suárez	2:13.52
François Duval	2:00.99		Francisco Suárez	2:05.28

Nations' Cup

Group stage

Group A

Pos.	Team	Races	Wins	Losses	Total Time	Driver	Wins	Losses	Best Time
1	Finland	6	4	2	5:54.06	Marcus Grönholm	2	0	1:57.55
						JJ Lehto	0	2	1:55.91
						Kari Tiainen	2	0	2:00.60
2	Sweden	6	4	2	5:56.11	Thomas Rådström	1	1	1:58.02
						Kenny Brack	2	0	1:52.96
						Tony Rickardsson	1	1	2:05.13
3	UK	6	1	5	6:01.47	Robbie Head	0	2	1:58.93
						James Thompson	1	1	1:54.45
						James Haydon	0	2	2:08.09

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
UK		1–2	Finland
James Haydon	2:08.09		Kari Tiainen	2:03.86
James Thompson	1:56.80		JJ Lehto	1:57.34
Robbie Head	2:03.07		Marcus Grönholm	1:59.69
Finland		2–1	Sweden
Kari Tiainen	2:00.60		Tony Rickardsson	2:05.13
JJ Lehto	1:55.91		Kenny Brack	1:54.51
Marcus Grönholm	1:57.55		Thomas Rådström	2:00.06
Sweden		3–0	UK
Tony Rickardsson	2:06.49		James Haydon	DNF
Kenny Brack	1:52.96		James Thompson	1:54.45
Thomas Rådström	1:58.02		Robbie Head	1:58.93

Group B

Pos.	Team	Races	Wins	Losses	Total Time	Driver	Wins	Losses	Best Time
1	Italy	6	5	1	5:46.71	Renato Travaglia	1	1	1:56.80
						Fabrizio Giovanardi	2	0	1:52.67
						Marco Melandri	2	0	1:57.24
2	France	6	3	3	5:47.11	Sébastien Loeb	2	0	1:55.95
						Sébastien Bourdais	0	2	1:53.54
						Mickaël Maschio	1	1	1:57.62
3	Germany	6	1	5	5:55.80	Walter Röhrl	0	2	1:56.89
						Nick Heidfeld	1	1	1:53.44
						Pit Beirer	0	2	2:05.47

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Italy		3–0
Marco Melandri	2:00.46		Pit Beirer	2:05.47
Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:53.40		Nick Heidfeld	1:55.41
Renato Travaglia	1:57.44		Walter Röhrl	2:14.35
		1–2	France
Pit Beirer	2:07.68		Mickaël Maschio	1:59.29
Nick Heidfeld	1:53.44		Sébastien Bourdais	1:53.60
Walter Röhrl	1:56.89		Sébastien Loeb	1:56.41
France		1–2	Italy
Mickaël Maschio	1:57.62		Marco Melandri	1:57.24
Sébastien Bourdais	1:53.54		Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:52.67
Sébastien Loeb	1:55.95		Renato Travaglia	1:56.80

• France made the semi-finals by having the fastest times of the losing teams.

Group C

Pos.	Team	Races	Wins	Losses	Total Time	Driver	Wins	Losses	Best Time
1	USA	6	4	2	5:48.42	Jimmie Johnson	1	1	1:58.52
						Jeff Gordon	1	1	1:53.44
						Colin Edwards	2	0	1:56.43
2	Spain	6	4	2	5:50.61	Jesús Puras	2	0	1:57.60
						Fernando Alonso	1	2	1:53.84
						Carlos Checa	1	1	1:59.17
3	Brazil	6	1	5	5:59.08	Antônio Pizzonia	0	2	2:02.53
						Cristiano da Matta	1	1	1:58.26
						Alex Barros	0	2	1:58.29

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
USA		2–1	Brazil
Colin Edwards	1:56.97		Alex Barros	1:58.29
Jeff Gordon	2:07.03		Cristiano da Matta	2:03.48
Jimmie Johnson	2:02.44		Antônio Pizzonia	2:04.36
Brazil		0–3	Spain
Alex Barros	1:59.42		Carlos Checa	1:59.27
Cristiano da Matta	1:58.26		Fernando Alonso	1:54.07
Antônio Pizzonia	2:02.53		Jesús Puras	1:58.81
		1–2	USA
Carlos Checa	1:59.17		Colin Edwards	1:56.43
Fernando Alonso	1:53.84		Jeff Gordon	1:53.47
Jesús Puras	1:57.60		Jimmie Johnson	1:58.52

Best Times

Pos.	Rally		Racing		Motorcycle
	Driver	Best Time	Driver	Best Time	Driver	Best Time
1	Sébastien Loeb	1:55.95	Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:52.67	Colin Edwards	1:56.43
2	Renato Travaglia	1:56.80	Kenny Brack	1:52.96	Marco Melandri	1:57.24
3	Walter Röhrl	1:56.89	Nick Heidfeld	1:53.44	Mickaël Maschio	1:57.62
4	Marcus Grönholm	1:57.55	Jeff Gordon	1:53.44	Alex Barros	1:58.29
5	Jesús Puras	1:57.60	Sébastien Bourdais	1:53.54	Carlos Checa	1:59.17
6	Thomas Rådström	1:58.02	Fernando Alonso	1:53.84	Kari Tiainen	2:00.60
7	Jimmie Johnson	1:58.52	James Thompson	1:54.45	Tony Rickardsson	2:05.13
8	Robbie Head	1:58.93	JJ Lehto	1:55.91	Pit Beirer	2:05.47
9	Antônio Pizzonia	2:02.53	Cristiano da Matta	1:58.26	James Haydon	2:08.09

Knockout stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	Italy	3
	Finland	1
					Italy	1
					USA	3
	USA	3
	France	2

Semifinals

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Finland		1–3	Italy
Kari Tiainen	2:01.71		Marco Melandri	1:57.85
JJ Lehto	1:56.60		Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:55.27
Marcus Grönholm	1:58.58		Renato Travaglia	2:00.50
Kari Tiainen	1:59.99		Marco Melandri	1:56.91
USA		3–2	France
Colin Edwards	1:57.67		Mickaël Maschio	1:58.84
Jeff Gordon	2:04.94 (penalty)		Sébastien Bourdais	1:54.27
Jimmie Johnson	1:58.11		Sébastien Loeb	1:58.02
Colin Edwards	1:56.25		Mickaël Maschio	DNF
Jeff Gordon	1:53.20		Sébastien Bourdais	1:56.47

Final

Team 1	Time 1	Score	Team 2	Time 2
Italy		1–3	USA
Marco Melandri	1:57.25		Colin Edwards	1:56.16
Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:54.02		Jeff Gordon	1:53.87
Renato Travaglia	1:54.01		Jimmie Johnson	1:54.67
Marco Melandri	3:04.83		Colin Edwards	2:12.99

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 – Harri Rovanperä, as the defending champion, was guaranteed a spot, whilst Colin Edwards, despite having the best time among motorcyclists in the Nations' Cup, did not participate. François Duval secured his place by winning the Junior event, Luis Monzón won the Spanish Masters event, and Stig Blomqvist was an invited 'seeded' driver. Jimmie Johnson received a 'wild-card' entry, replacing Nations' Cup teammate Jeff Gordon who was sidelined by food poisoning.^[1]

Group stage

Group A

Driver	Races	Wins	Losses	Best Time
François Duval	3	2	1	1:54.15
Luis Monzón	3	2	1	1:55.80
Stig Blomqvist	3	1	2	1:55.23
Jesús Puras	3	1	2	1:57.27

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Jesús Puras	1:57.27		Stig Blomqvist	1:58.06
Jesús Puras	1:57.62		François Duval	1:55.20
Jesús Puras	1:56.74		Luis Monzón	1:55.80
François Duval	1:54.60		Stig Blomqvist	1:55.44
Stig Blomqvist	1:55.23		Luis Monzón	DNF
François Duval	2:04.15 (penalty)		Luis Monzón	1:56.95

Group B

Driver	Races	Wins	Losses	Best Time
Kenny Brack	3	3	0	1:54.92
Marco Melandri	3	2	1	1:53.74
Renato Travaglia	3	1	2	1:58.96
Fabrizio Giovanardi	3	0	3	1:54.50

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:58.98		Renato Travaglia	1:58.96
Kenny Brack	1:55.44		Renato Travaglia	1:56.61
Renato Travaglia	1:56.62		Marco Melandri	1:55.17
Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:55.55		Kenny Brack	1:54.92
Fabrizio Giovanardi	1:54.50		Marco Melandri	1:53.74
Marco Melandri	Withdrew		Kenny Brack	Bye

Knockout stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	Marcus Grönholm	2
	Jimmie Johnson	0
					Marcus Grönholm	2
					François Duval	0
	Marco Melandri	0
	François Duval	2
									Marcus Grönholm	2
									Sébastien Loeb	1
	Sébastien Loeb	2
	Luis Monzón	0
					Sébastien Loeb	2
					Harri Rovanperä	0
	Harri Rovanperä	2
	Kenny Brack	1

Quarterfinals

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Marcus Grönholm	1:57.71		Jimmie Johnson	1:57.94
Marcus Grönholm	1:53.29		Jimmie Johnson	DNF
Marco Melandri	DNF		François Duval	2:02.30
Marco Melandri	3:18.78		François Duval	2:26.20
Sébastien Loeb	1:57.85		Luis Monzón	2:00.49
Sébastien Loeb	1:57.87		Luis Monzón	1:58.87
Harri Rovanperä	1:58.28		Kenny Brack	1:58.88
Harri Rovanperä	1:54.46		Kenny Brack	1:53.98
Harri Rovanperä	1:54.32		Kenny Brack	2:40.90

Semifinals

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Marcus Grönholm	1:59.32		François Duval	2:25.41
Marcus Grönholm	1:52.65		François Duval	DNF
Sébastien Loeb	1:57.19		Harri Rovanperä	1:57.88
Sébastien Loeb	1:53.81		Harri Rovanperä	1:54.81

Final

Driver 1	Time 1		Driver 2	Time 2
Marcus Grönholm	1:53.07		Sébastien Loeb	1:53.15
Marcus Grönholm	1:52.05		Sébastien Loeb	1:51.54
Marcus Grönholm	1:51.87		Sébastien Loeb	1:52.74

References

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20030623223347/http://www.carreradecampeones.org/

This page was last edited on 31 October 2023, at 21:36