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Bottas to compete in 2022 Race of Champions
Valtteri Bottas will make his debut in the Race of Champions after signing up for the 2022 event.
The Finn has never taken part in the off-season event that pitches big names from various motorsport disciplines against each other in a wide range of cars, traditionally in a stadium setting. The 2022 edition will see a ‘Snow + Ice’ event on the frozen Baltic Sea at Pite Havsbad in Sweden next February, and Bottas will make his first appearance following his departure from Mercedes to join Alfa Romeo next year.
“I’m really looking forward to finally be able to compete in the Race of Champions after watching the event on TV for many years,” Bottas said. “The fact that this year’s event will be held on snow and ice makes it even more interesting.
“I’ve competed in the Arctic Rally a few times, so hopefully that experience will help as we aim to beat the strong competition and especially our Nordic neighbors from Sweden and Norway to add to Finland’s many wins both in the individual ROC and the ROC Nations Cup.”
The likes of Tom Kristensen, Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg and Travis Pastrana are already signed up for the event -- which will include electric race cars and other innovative equipment using 100 percent fossil-free bio fuel -- as the ROC will see legends race current drivers and rising talents in the same machinery.
“Valtteri has told us for several years that he would like to participate in the Race of Champions and we are very happy that he is finally able to make his ROC debut in our first ROC World Final on Snow & Ice,” ROC President, Fredrik Johnasson said.
“In the latest Formula 1 race in Monza Valtteri once again proved that he is one of the world’s fastest drivers. Finland has a proud history at the Race of Champions and it will be fascinating to see how the longstanding sporting rivalry between Finland and host nation Sweden plays out. We always have a lot of very fast drivers at ROC, but the new parallel ice track on the frozen ocean will be a big x factor.”
https://twitter.com/ValtteriBottas/status/1440221908935401474
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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