# 2004 Race of Champions

The 2004 Race of Champions took place on December 4 at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. Unlike previous events at a gravel course in Gran Canaria, the new Stade de France event was all-tarmac, so road racers became more competitive than rally drivers.
The Nations' Cup underwent some significant changes - nations were now represented by only two competitors instead of three, with the motorcyclists axed. In addition, the rules regarding having one rally driver and one circuit driver were relaxed, leading to some all-circuit driver teams. As the host nation, France was permitted to field two teams.
The individual event was won by a then-relatively unknown Heikki Kovalainen, and the team event by Jean Alesi and Sébastien Loeb representing France. There was also a special "World Champions Challenge" race held between 2004 Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and 2004 world rally champion Sébastien Loeb, which Schumacher won.

## Participants

| Country | Driver 1 | Driver 2 |
| Brazil | Felipe Massa | Tony Kanaan |
| Finland | Heikki Kovalainen | Marcus Grönholm |
| France | Jean Alesi | Sébastien Loeb |
| France (Team PlayStation) | Sébastien Bourdais | Stéphane Sarrazin |
| Germany | Michael Schumacher | Armin Schwarz |
| Great Britain | David Coulthard | Colin McRae |
| Sweden | Kenny Bräck | Mattias Ekström |
| USA | Casey Mears* | Jimmie Johnson |
* - Casey Mears was a last-minute substitute for Jeff Gordon, who was hospitalized with the flu and told not to participate in this event by doctors while at NASCAR's awards banquet in New York City that week.

## Race of Champions
### Racing Group

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | | | |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 1:45.8988 | | | |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 1:45.8988 | Ferrari 360 Modena | Ferrari 360 Modena | | |
| David Coulthard | 1:56.9983 (penalty) | Ferrari 360 Modena | Ferrari 360 Modena | |
| David Coulthard | 1:56.9983 (penalty) | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:48.9325 | |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:48.9325 | |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | Jean Alesi | 1:50.6410 | |
| Casey Mears | 1:45.4170 | Jean Alesi | 1:50.6410 | |
| Casey Mears | 1:45.4170 | | | | Ferrari 360 Modena | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Jean Alesi | 1:44.8707 | | | | Ferrari 360 Modena | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Jean Alesi | 1:44.8707 | | | | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:45.3851 |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | | | | | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:45.3851 |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | | | | Michael Schumacher | 1:56.3805 (penalty) |
| Kenny Bräck | 1:59.0832 (penalty) | | | | Michael Schumacher | 1:56.3805 (penalty) |
| Kenny Bräck | 1:59.0832 (penalty) | Ferrari 360 Modena | Ferrari 360 Modena | | | |
| Sébastien Bourdais | 1:43.9553 | Ferrari 360 Modena | Ferrari 360 Modena | | | |
| Sébastien Bourdais | 1:43.9553 | Sébastien Bourdais | 1:52.5493 | | | |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | | Sébastien Bourdais | 1:52.5493 | | | |
| ROC Car | ROC Car | Michael Schumacher | 1:49.2940 | |
| Michael Schumacher | 1:43.6905 | Michael Schumacher | 1:49.2940 | |
| Felipe Massa | 1:53.6368 (penalty) | | | |

### Rallying Group

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final |
| Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC | | | |
| Mattias Ekström | 1:48.7732 | | | |
| Mattias Ekström | 1:48.7732 | Peugeot 307 WRC | Peugeot 307 WRC | | |
| Colin McRae | 1:58.7684 (penalty) | Peugeot 307 WRC | Peugeot 307 WRC | |
| Colin McRae | 1:58.7684 (penalty) | Mattias Ekström | 1:46.5447 | |
| Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC | | Mattias Ekström | 1:46.5447 | |
| Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC | Marcus Grönholm | 1:45.2022 | |
| Stéphane Sarrazin | 1:47.6678 | Marcus Grönholm | 1:45.2022 | |
| Stéphane Sarrazin | 1:47.6678 | | | | Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC |
| Marcus Grönholm | 1:46.0241 | | | | Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC |
| Marcus Grönholm | 1:46.0241 | | | | Marcus Grönholm | 1:44.6967 |
| Peugeot 307 WRC | Peugeot 307 WRC | | | | | Marcus Grönholm | 1:44.6967 |
| Peugeot 307 WRC | Peugeot 307 WRC | | | | Sébastien Loeb | 1:44.0306 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 2:18.5842 (penalty) | | | | Sébastien Loeb | 1:44.0306 |
| Jimmie Johnson | 2:18.5842 (penalty) | Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC | | | |
| Armin Schwarz | 1:50.7135 | Citroën Xsara WRC | Citroën Xsara WRC | | | |
| Armin Schwarz | 1:50.7135 | Armin Schwarz | 1:47.3488 | | | |
| Peugeot 307 WRC | Peugeot 307 WRC | | Armin Schwarz | 1:47.3488 | | | |
| Peugeot 307 WRC | Peugeot 307 WRC | Sébastien Loeb | 1:45.6719 | |
| Sébastien Loeb | 1:46.4110 | Sébastien Loeb | 1:45.6719 | |
| Tony Kanaan | 1:54.8822 (penalty) | | | |

### Final

| Driver 1 | Time 1 | Car | Driver 2 | Time 2 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 1:42.2602 | Peugeot 307 WRC | Sébastien Loeb | 1:43.0579 |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 1:47.4383 | Ferrari 360 Modena | Sébastien Loeb | 1:55.5842 |

## World Champions Challenge

| Driver 1 | Time 1 | Car | Driver 2 | Time 2 |
| Michael Schumacher | 1:46.7832 | ROC Car | Sébastien Loeb | 1:46.9166 |
| Michael Schumacher | 1:43.6134 | ROC Car | Sébastien Loeb | 1:43.3109 |
| Michael Schumacher | 1:41.8246 | ROC Car | Sébastien Loeb | 1:42.7484 |

## The Nations Cup

| Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final |
| France | 2 | | |
| Team Playstation France | 0 | | |
| Team Playstation France | 0 | France | 2 |
| | | Brazil | 0 |
| Brazil | 2 | Brazil | 0 |
| Germany | 0 | | | | |
| Germany | 0 | | | France | 3 |
| | | | | Finland | 2 |
| Great Britain | 2 | | | Finland | 2 |
| USA | 1 | | | | |
| USA | 1 | Great Britain | 0 | | |
| | | Finland | 2 |
| Finland | 2 | Finland | 2 |
| Sweden | 0 | | |

### Quarterfinals

| Team 1 | Time 1 | Score | Team 2 | Time 2 | Car |
| France | France | 2-0 | Team PlayStation France | Team PlayStation France | |
| Jean Alesi | 1:50.3002 | 2-0 | Sébastien Bourdais | 1:51.2661 | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Sébastien Loeb | 1:44.1263 | 2-0 | Stéphane Sarrazin | 1:47.5831 | Peugeot 307 WRC |
| Brazil | Brazil | 2-0 | Germany | Germany | |
| Felipe Massa | 1:50.1074 | 2-0 | Michael Schumacher | 1:53.7634 | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Tony Kanaan | 1:49.7582 | 2-0 | Armin Schwarz | 1:50.0430 | Citroën Xsara WRC |
| Great Britain | Great Britain | 2-1 | USA | USA | |
| David Coulthard | 1:56.2226 | 2-1 | Casey Mears | 1:53.5186 | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Colin McRae | 1:53.9080 | 2-1 | Jimmie Johnson | 2:15.4507 | Citroën Xsara WRC |
| David Coulthard | 1:44.7981 | 2-1 | Casey Mears | 1:45.0045 | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Finland | Finland | 2-0 | Sweden | Sweden | |
| Heikki Kovalainen | 1:46.6362 | 2-0 | Kenny Bräck | 1:51.3292 | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Marcus Grönholm | 1:49.0011 | 2-0 | Mattias Ekström | 1:49.6333 | Citroën Xsara WRC |

### Semifinals

| Team 1 | Time 1 | Score | Team 2 | Time 2 | Car |
| France | France | 2-0 | Brazil | Brazil | |
| Jean Alesi | 1:41.7459 | 2-0 | Felipe Massa | 1:42.1434 | ROC Car |
| Sébastien Loeb | 1:47.0386 | 2-0 | Tony Kanaan | 1:51.4750 | Citroën Xsara WRC |
| Great Britain | Great Britain | 0-2 | Finland | Finland | |
| David Coulthard | 1:43.6151 | 0-2 | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:41.6780 | ROC Car |
| Colin McRae | 1:46.7798 | 0-2 | Marcus Grönholm | 1:43.8857 | Peugeot 307 WRC |

### Final

| Team 1 | Time 1 | Score | Team 2 | Time 2 | Car |
| France | France | 3-2 | Finland | Finland | |
| Jean Alesi | 1:42.2688 | 3-2 | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:40.8116 | ROC Car |
| Sébastien Loeb | 1:44.8087 | 3-2 | Marcus Grönholm | 1:46.0491 | Citroën Xsara WRC |
| Jean Alesi | 1:57.9157 (penalty) | 3-2 | Heikki Kovalainen | 1:46.8295 | Ferrari 360 Modena |
| Sébastien Loeb | 1:43.1858 | 3-2 | Marcus Grönholm | 1:44.3120 | Peugeot 307 WRC |
| Jean Alesi | 2:22.4891 | 3-2 | Heikki Kovalainen | DNF | Ferrari 360 Modena |