2001 Race of Champions

The 2001 Race of Champions was the 14th running of the annual motorsport event, held from 7 to 9 December 2001 at the Autódromo Internacional de Gran Canaria in Telde, Canary Islands, Spain. It marked the tenth consecutive year the event took place at this venue. The competition brought together top drivers from various disciplines, including rallying, circuit racing, and motorcycle racing.

For the first time, the event featured the Junior Masters, a contest for rally drivers under 30 years of age, replacing the previous International Masters. The seeding system was also changed, with placements in the main Race of Champions based on performance in the Nations' Cup heats rather than World Rally Championship titles.

The individual event was won by Harri Rovanperä, who defeated Armin Schwarz in the final. Team Spain, represented by Fernando Alonso, Jesús Puras, and Rubén Xaus, claimed victory in the Nations' Cup.

Participants

Race of Champions

Driver Reason for Qualification
Marcus Grönholm World Rally champion in 2000
Stig Blomqvist Winner in the Legends Race
François Duval Winner in the Junior Masters
Valentino Rossi Invitation
Juha Kankkunen Seeded
Armin Schwarz Best times among Rally Drivers in Nations' Cup
Harri Rovanpera
Gilles Panizzi
Alister McRae
Jeff Gordon Fastest Racing Driver in Nations' Cup
Rubén Xaus Fastest Motorcycle Racer in Nations' Cup
Flavio Alonso Winner in the Spanish Masters

Nations' Cup

Country Racing Driver Rally Driver Motorcycle Racer
France Paul Belmondo Gilles Panizzi Olivier Jacque
United States Robby Gordon Rhys Millen Shaun Palmer
Great Britain Johnny Herbert Alister McRae James Dobb
Finland Heikki Kovalainen Marcus Grönholm Kari Tiainen
Spain Fernando Alonso Jesús Puras Rubén Xaus
Italy Emanuele Pirro Miki Biasion Valentino Rossi
Germany Frank Biela Armin Schwarz Katja Poensgen
All-Stars Tom Kristensen Harri Rovanpera Troy Bayliss

Legends Race

Group A

Driver Wins Losses Best Time
Stig Blomqvist 2 0 1'59.88
Timo Salonen 1 1 1'59.82
Björn Waldegård 0 2 2'00.84

Group B

Driver Wins Losses Best Time
Miki Biasion 2 1 2'09.65
Per Eklund 1 1 2'11.91
Antonio Zanini 0 2 2'13.13
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
Stig Blomqvist2
 
 
 
Per Eklund0
 
Stig Blomqvist2
 
 
 
Timo Salonen0
 
Miki Biasion0
 
 
Timo Salonen2
 

Junior Rally Masters

Driver Wins Losses Best Time
François Duval 3 0 2'13.10
Sébastien Loeb 2 1 2'16.23
Gabriel Pozzo 1 2 2'16.69
Miguel Campos 0 3 2'15.80
 
Final
 
  
 
 
 
 
François Duval1
 
 
Sébastien Loeb0
 

Race of Champions

Heat A

Driver Wins Losses Best Time
Armin Schwarz 2 1 1'56.13
Harri Rovanpera 2 1 1'56.60
Juha Kankkunen 2 1 1'56.85
Fernando Alonso 0 3 1'56.69

Heat B

Driver Wins Losses Best Time
Alister McRae 3 0 1'56.63
Jeff Gordon 2 1 1'55.21
Gilles Panizzi 1 2 1'56.82
Rubén Xaus 0 3 1'59.61
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
 
 
 
Marcus Grönholm0
 
 
 
Harri Rovanpera2
 
Harri Rovanpera2
 
 
 
François Duval1
 
Stig Blomqvist0
 
 
 
François Duval2
 
Harri Rovanpera2
 
 
 
Armin Schwarz1
 
Alister McRae2
 
 
 
Valentino Rossi0
 
Alister McRae0
 
 
 
Armin Schwarz2
 
Armin Schwarz2
 
 
Jeff Gordon0
 

Nations Cup

Group A

Team Match Wins Heat Wins Best Total Time
2 5 5'44.53
All-Star 2 4 5'46.17
UK 1 5 5'48.53
Italy 1 4 5'43.19

Group B

Team Match Wins Heat Wins Best Total Time
 USA 2 6 5'44.95
 France 2 4 5'51.20
Finland 1 4 5'46.01
Germany 1 4 5'56.24
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
3
 
 
 
 France1
 
3
 
 
 
All-Star1
 
 USA0
 
 
All-Star3
 

References