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2023 Race of Champions to Feature Cupra UrbanRebel Concepts on Ice and Snow

Cupra is now a partner of the 2023 Race of Champions, and the Spanish marque has just unveiled the UrbanRebel Racing Concept. The latter is the race car for the event, which will be held on snow and ice. The competition will put pairs of two drivers against each other in two cars to determine the quickest racing driver on the planet.
Cupra UrbanRebel Concept 9 photos
Photo: CUPRA
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Typically, all the drivers entered in The Race of Champions are champions in their respective motorsport disciplines. Initially, it was a competition between rally drivers, and it started back in 1988. The organizer was none other than Michele Mouton, who collaborated with Fredrik Johnsson of International Media Productions to make things happen.

The first to win the first-ever edition of the Race of Champions was Juha Kankkunen, followed by Stig Blomqvist, Andrea Aghini, Didier Auriol, Francois Delecour, and Carlos Sainz.

The racer that will be first after all the challenges gets the title "Champion of Champions," and the reining champ is Sebastien Loeb, who remains the most successful rally driver in the world. Ever since 1999, the Race of Champions also has a Nations Cup, which allows drivers to compete in pairs against other pairs of drivers representing a different country. The 2022 teams champion is Norway.

The nation with the most wins is Germany, with eight, followed by Finland, France, and the Nordic countries each with two wins. Didier Auriol and Sebastien Loeb are tied with four victories each, while Mattias Ekstrom has three.

The 2022 edition of the Race of Champions was the first one held on snow and ice, and it took place in Pite Havsbad, which is in Sweden. Norway was represented by Petter Solberg and Oliver Solberg. Sebastian Vettel was runner-up, while Sebastien Loeb won the event.

Previous winners include David Coulthard, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Vettel, Romain Grosjean, Sebastien Ogier, Mattias Ekstrom, Colin McRae, Tommi Makinen, Marcus Gronholm, and a few more.

The 2023 edition of the Race of Champions will be held in the same city as last time, and the competitors will go head-to-head in identical cars that deliver a continuous 340 metric  horsepower (335 hp), with a peak of 435 metric horsepower (429 hp). One of these Cupra UrbanRebel Concept race cars can sprint from 0 to 100 kph (62 mph) in just 3.2 seconds.

The organizers have prepared a track on the frozen Baltic Sea that includes a cross-over bridge in the parallel track to ensure maximum excitement. It all takes place just 60 miles (ca. 97 km) away from the Arctic Circle, so nobody should fear falling under the ice.

This year's edition will bring together names like Mika Häkkinen, Sebastian Vettel, Jamie Chadwick, Johan Kristoffersson, Petter Solberg, and Travis Pastrana. The event is scheduled for January 28th and 29th, and we cannot wait to see how things turn out.

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About the author: Sebastian Toma
Sebastian Toma profile photo

Sebastian's love for cars began at a young age. Little did he know that a career would emerge from this passion (and that it would not, sadly, involve being a professional racecar driver). In over fourteen years, he got behind the wheel of several hundred vehicles and in the offices of the most important car publications in his homeland.
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