Kovalainen to compete against no less than four other former or current F1 drivers including David Coulthard, Valtteri Bottas, Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel
The 33rd edition of the Race Of Champions will include superstars from F1, World Rallying, Supercars, Rallycross, NASCAR, Extreme E and Dakar
Accor Stadium to be turned into a spectacular side-by-side 1km asphalt race track when this unique event is hosted for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere
Former F1 driver Heikki Kovalainen will make a return to racing with Valtteri Bottas and Team Finland at Sydney’s Accor Stadium on March 7-8, after recovering from open heart surgery last year.
Kovalainen’s motorsport career was put on hold after he was diagnosed with ascending aortic aneurysm and was forced to have emergency surgery in March, 2024.
Almost 12 months to the day, Kovalainen will make a popular return to motorsport as Bottas’ teammate on a spectacular stadium track against some of the biggest names in world motorsport.
Bottas and Kovalainen, together, will compete against no less than three other former or current F1 drivers including David Coulthard, Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel.
They will all go head to head on a spectacular AUD$2 million side-by-side 1km asphalt track which will be hand crafted by a team of local and international engineers to ensure maximum speed and entertainment for the anticipated 50,000-strong crowd.
Ironically, Kovalainen burst on to the international scene after winning the final of the 2004 Race Of Champions in France, where he beat both Michael Schumacher and Sébastien Loeb on his way to the title.
Two years later he teamed with Marcus Grönholm to win the ROC Nations Cup for Finland, beating Travis Pastrana’s Team USA in the final, again back in Paris.
In 2007 he moved full-time into F1 with Renault and the following season was signed as Lewis Hamilton’s teammate at McLaren, where he won his only Grand Prix in Hungary.
He spent another four seasons in F1 before focusing his attention on Japan where he became a competitive driver in the Super GT500 Series. He won that championship in 2016 for Lexus Team SARD.
In recent years his attention has turned to rallying and this year he will compete in the Japanese Rally Championship with Rally Team AICELLO. That campaign will include the Japanese round of the World Rally Championship.
The Race Of Champions comes two weeks after the 2025 Supercars opener at Sydney Motorsport Park (Feb 21-23) and one week before the opening round of the F1 World Championship in Melbourne (March 13-16), creating a massive month of motorsport in Australia.
The Race Of Champions will run over two nights with a purpose-built 1km tarmac track taking centre stage at Accor Stadium, Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
In Sydney, Kovalainen will be going head to head with no less than:
4-time Formula 1 World Champion, Sebastian Vettel
F1 legend and two-time Australian Grand Prix winner, David Coulthard
F1 ace, Valtteri Bottas
9-time FIA World Rally Champion, Sébastien Loeb
7-time Supercars Champion, Jamie Whincup
Reigning Supercars champion, Will Brown
Extreme E champion, Molly Taylor
11-time X-Games Gold medalist, Travis Pastrana
7-time FIA World Rallycross Champion, Johan Kristoffersson
Former F1 driver, FIA F2 champion and current WEC driver, Mick Schumacher
2-time European Rally Champion, Hayden Paddon
Father and son rally champions, Petter and Oliver Solberg
2-time Dakar winner, Toby Price
NASCAR champion, Kurt Busch
4-time ROC Champion, Mattias Ekström
Young Kiwi Formula star, Louis Sharp
The Race Of Champions will run over two nights with a purpose-built 1km tarmac track taking centre stage at Accor Stadium, Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
What Heikki Kovalainen, said:
"The 2004 Race of Champions at Stade de France was my big breakthrough on to the international motorsport scene,” said Kovalainen.
“I was a young boy with big dreams in motorsport and suddenly I was racing against Michael Schumacher and Sébastien Loeb and somehow managed to beat them both!
“I got a lot of recognition for that feat and it accelerated my development as a driver and eventually led to a race seat in Formula 1.
“Since my F1 days I've raced and rallied in Japan, becoming Super GT Champion and Japanese Rally double champion.
“Last year I only did half a season as I was diagnosed with ascending aortic aneurysm and had to undergo an open heart surgery in March.
“The operation went well and I've recovered and now back to full fitness.
“And most importantly, looking forward to joining ROC 20 years after my first victory at Stade de France.”
What Valtteri Bottas said:
“I made a shortlist of the fastest Finnish drivers I could think of and Heikki was right up there on that list,” said Bottas.
“It is great to see him fully recovered and I am very happy that he has been confirmed as my teammate for ROC Sydney.
“I hope we have a good chance to win it all for Finland again for the first time in almost 20 years.”
What Fredrik Johnsson, Race Of Champions President and Co-Founder, said:
“Heikki’s win at the first Race Of Champions in Stade de France, where he beat David Coulthard, Jean Alesi, Michael Schumacher and Sébastien Loeb on his way to take the ‘Champion of Champions’ Title, is one of the most surprising and memorable moments in ROC History,” said Johnsson.
“Obviously he faced some tough medical issues last year, but with typical Finnish “Sisu” fighting spirit he has fought back and we are thrilled to have Heikki back with us for ROC Sydney.
“Heikki and Valtteri [Bottas] will look to take Finland’s first ROC Nations Cup title since the “Flying Finns” last won the event with Heikki and Marcus Groöholm in 2006.”
Hospitality and Trackside packages and General Admission Tickets start from $49.00 for children and $69.00 for adults. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketek.com.au.
