Williams development driver Susie Wolff has been confirmed as a competitor in this year’s Race of Champions. She will form an all-Scottish pairing in Team GB with former Formula One driver David Coulthard.
The Race of Champions is an annual event that sees competitors from various motorsport disciplines pitted against each other in a series of races in equal machinery. Pairings from various countries compete for the Nations Cup and there is also an individual competition, the winner of which is crowned “Champion of Champions”. Last year’s individual winner was Lotus F1 driver Romain Grosjean.
Team Germany, consisting of four-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel and retired F1 legend Michael Schumacher, has won the Nations Cup six years in a row. Schumacher has confirmed that he will be back this year, and Vettel is also expected to compete.
In the team event, Susie Wolff and David Coulthard will represent Team GB (Great Britain), and will be aiming to dethrone the all-conquering Germans.
Wolff and Coulthard have competed on the same track quite a few times, when both raced in the DTM series from 2010 to 2012. They will be competing with each other again in the individual event of this year’s Race of Champions. Last year Coulthard reached the semi-final stage, proving that he still has plenty of skill behind the wheel despite having retired from racing.
This will be Susie Wolff’s first Race of Champions, and in fact the first appearance in the competition by a woman. Wolff has plenty of racing experience, although she hasn’t competed full-time in any racing series this year while she’s been concentrating on her job as development driver for the Williams Formula One team. Before joining Williams, Wolff competed full-time in DTM for seven years.
Susie Wolff expressed her enthusiasm for the upcoming event:
“Any driver would love to be invited to do the Race Of Champions,” said Wolff. “It’s an event I have watched as far back as I can remember. What is so exciting is that the cars race head-to-head and you can see how close it is: it always comes down to hundredths. Jumping in and out of the different cars is going to be the real challenge. You need to make sure your car control is as good as it can be because you don’t have time to get a proper feeling for the car, you just get in and go.
“Then there’s the ROC Nations Cup, where I certainly feel responsibility to make sure we do well as a nation. I know David from our time in DTM and I rate him really highly so to be part of the team alongside him makes me very proud. Of course we’ll be up against drivers who are absolutely at the top of their game. So I know it’s not going to be easy but I’m relishing the challenge.”
The Race of Champions will take place in Bangkok on 14 and 15 December 2013.
Chris on F1 
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