In its second straight year at London's new Wembley Stadium, The Race of Champions — Nations Cup (ROC) once again thrilled the capacity crowd with some of the most exciting driving exploits of the racing season. Tag Heuer is the ROC's Official Sponsor, Timekeeper and Watch brand. A partner in the prestigious event since 2004, this year TAG Heuer expanded its participation with new driver and team prize watches, and the presentation of the first TAG Heuer Racing Awards.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
F1 Champion and TAG Heuer Ambassador Lewis Hamilton kicked off the event by taking on Olympic gold medal cyclist Chris Hoy on a parade lap in a Mercedes. Then, after Germany beat Scandinavia to retain the Nations Cup, the 23-year-old Briton returned in his F1 title-winning Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. The youngest-ever F1 Champion gave a thrilling demonstration of driving donuts — a maneuver banned in F1 — before thanking the 40 000 fans for their support over the year.
Sebastian Vettel
Seven-time F1 Champion Michael Schumacher and TAG Heuer Ambassador Sebastian Vettel took the Nations Cup for Team Germany for the second consecutive year, beating out the Scandinavian pair of friend of the brand Mattias Ekström and Denmark's Tom Kristensen. The first and second place teams were presented with TAG Heuer F1 44mm Chronographs by Antoine Pin, Managing Director of LVMH Watch and Jewellery UK.
In the Race of Champions, in which drivers from various racing disciplines compete individually, five-time world rally champ Sébastien Loeb prevailed over the UK's David Coulthard in the best-of-three final. The two drivers were presented with TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 16 Day-Date Chronographs.
Sébastien Loeb
TAG Heuer demonstrated its peerless command of 10 000 of a second timing by awarding a fastest lap time of 1 48 5699 to Britain's Andy Priaulx. The reigning three-times FIA World Touring Car Champion was awarded a TAG Heuer SLR Calibre S Laptimer Chronograph.
“The Race of Champions — Nations Cup is a superlative showcase not only of TAG Heuer's matchless timekeeping prowess,” says Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO and President of TAG Heuer, “but also its longstanding rank as the number one watch brand in motor sports. Two years ago, we set a new world record at this internationally renowned event by precisely clocking an astonishing 2/10 000th of a second gap between first-place Mattias Ekström of Sweden and second-place Heikki Kovalainen of Finland in the semi-final. This year, we broadened our participation both on and off the track to make the event even more exciting.”
TAG Heuer Racing Awards
At a press conference the day before the race, the first of the new TAG Heuer Racing Awards was presented to NASCAR's Carl Edwards by Antoine Pin and Michèle Mouton, the co-founder of The Race of Champions and President of Awards'jury.
Earlier this year, TAG Heuer assembled an international jury of motor-racing experts to determine the best racecar driver in the world. The 8-person jury* statistically analyzed the weekly performances of more than 150 drivers in Formula One, GP2, IndyCar, NASCAR and the World Rally Championship. Based on the official results of each event, points were awarded to the first five finishers, with additional points for the fastest lap or the winner of most legs in a rally event.
This year's winner, Carl Edwards, the American NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion for Roush Fenway Racing, closed the season with a total of 160.24 points.
Carl Edwards
“I am very happy to receive this trophy, which honours the great season I had this year in NASCAR”, said the American driver, who brought new honor to himself the following day by downing one of the favourites, Michael Schumacher, in the ROC's exciting head-to-head semi-final.
Michèle Mouton
“I'm very honoured to be the President of the first edition of the TAG Heuer Racing Awards. This fantastic creation compares drivers from different categories, taking into account their performance during the season and complementary to The Race of Champions,” says Michèle Mouton, the French Rally legend and one of the most successful female drivers in motor-racing history. “This year, the TAG Heuer Racing Awards saw the leader change almost every week. It was so exciting to look at, especially after race weekends! Our “Top 10” brings together the best drivers in all TAG Heuer Racing Awards categories: Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton from Formula 1; Scott Dixon and Hélio Castroneves from IndyCar Series; Mikko Hirvonen and Sébastien Loeb from WRC; and Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Bush and Carl Edwards from NASCAR. Here are the results: in third place, 2008 IndyCar Series Champion Scott Dixon; in second, 2008 WRC Champion Sébastien Loeb. And the winner is Carl Edwards, who wasn't this year's NASCAR Champion but scored the highest score in that category with 9 victories and a further 8 finishes in the top three. Congratulations, Carl!”
TAG Heuer Drivers
Along with Lewis Hamilton and new friend of the brand Carl Edwards, who represented Team USA, the Race of Champions featured TAG Heuer Ambassador Sebastian Vettel, 2008 Toro Rosso F1 driver (Team Germany) and TAG Heuer friend Mattias Ekström (Team Scandinavia), DTM Champion and two-time Race of Champions winner.
*TAG Heuer Racing Award Jury Members: Michèle Mouton (1982 World Rally vice-champion, President of the Jury for the TAG Heuer Racing Award); Alain Prost (4-time F1 World Champion); Fredrik Johnsson (CEO of IMP and promoter of The Race of Champions); Lord March (Founder and Promoter of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival meeting); David Richards (Chairman and Chief Executive of Prodrive Group and Chairman of Aston Martin Racing); Antonio Mandiola (President of the Fangio Foundation and director of Fangio Museum); Jacques Deschenaux (ex-TSR journalist and writer); James Allen (ITV F1 commentator and motor sport correspondent for The Financial Times)
Press release
