With victory over the Australian Supercars star in the finale, Loeb moved clear on the all-time wins list with five wins. Coming into the 2025 edition, he was tied for four wins with Didier Auriol and Mattias Ekstrom.
Loeb won the first and second leg of the final, pipping Mostert by the slimmest margin in both instances.
It marked back-to-back wins for the Frenchman in the Race of Champions after winning the Nations Cup on Friday with FIA Formula 2 Championship driver and compatriot Victor Martins.
“I feel really happy and proud of that, It was an amazing weekend,” said Loeb.
“We won the Nations Cup yesterday with Victor who was amazingly fast. Today, to be able to make it to the final and win it was just an amazing moment.
“After the victory in the Nations Cup, it was a relief for me. I said ‘Tomorrow, no pressure, just push’ and it worked.
“It was very impressive,” Loeb said of the competition.
“This year it was very tight between the drivers, the Supercars driver, the other racing drivers. There were some surprises – Molly beating Kristofferson. It was an amazing weekend and we won at the end.”
Sebastien Loeb or Chaz Mostert? A fifth for the GOAT or a popular home win for the Aussie? Here is your answer! #ROCSydney pic.twitter.com/CJyVNJhDHT
— #ROCSydney (@RaceOfChampions) March 8, 2025
Loeb and Schumacher were automatic entrants to the quarter-finals based on the results from the 2023 Race of Champions, leaving the 18 other drivers to battle for a quarter-final berth.
Group A began with a big upset when Australia’s Molly Taylor defeated her Extreme E-winning teammate Johann Kristofferson. A win over eROC winner Michael Romanidis put Taylor through.
Molly Taylor, you are a legend. 👏#ROCSydney pic.twitter.com/EDrI2F0Aba
— #ROCSydney (@RaceOfChampions) March 8, 2025
Oliver Solberg defeated Travis Pastrana and Heikki Kovalainen in Group B before Toby Price toppled Petter Solberg and Hayden Paddon in Group C.
Sebastian Vettel took two wins in Group D, beating Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki and FIA Formula 3 Championship rookie Louis Sharp to advance. Kostecki nudged the barrier during his heat with Vettel, which cost him dearly in the end.
Group E brought another big shock when ex-F1 driver Valtteri Bottas lost both his races to Kurt Busch and Chaz Mostert. The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series winner fluffed his race against Mostert to gift the two-time Bathurst 1000 winner a quarter-final spot.
After being beaten by Victor Martins in the Nations Cup a night earlier, Will Brown returned serve with victory in their Group F fight. A win over David Coulthard sent Brown through to the quarter-finals.
Taylor took on Loeb in their quarter-final. The nine-time WRC champion took back-to-back wins in the best-of-three battle to advance.
Price threatened a boilover in the quarter-final against Solberg in the second leg but wagged the tail of his KTM X-Bow out of the final turn and got pipped at the post.
Nein! A huge upset and an even bigger roar as Chaz Mostert takes down four-time #F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel. The Aussies are loving life here. 🇦🇺 #ROCSydney pic.twitter.com/it2m6k1Jvu
— #ROCSydney (@RaceOfChampions) March 8, 2025
There were extraordinary scenes in the quarter-final between Mostert and Vettel. The Supercars star beat Vettel in the first instance driving a Subaru BRZ and backed it up in the second in the Super Car Lite. Vettel tried hard to recover lost time on the last turn but whacked the Tecpro walls.
Brown knocked Schumacher out in another thrilling quarter-final. Last year’s Supercars champion clouted the wall at the end of the first lap. With warnings in place for the first wall contact before a penalty, Brown escaped a sanction. In the end, he crossed the line just a car length ahead of Schumacher.
After the quarter-finals were decided, the order was set. Solberg lined up against Loeb while Mostert took on Brown – guaranteeing a Supercars driver in the final.
Loeb took back-to-back wins over Solberg in convincing fashion to book his final spot.
CLOSE FINISH! Two Aussies @supercar aces for a place in the final against Loeb! #ROCSydney pic.twitter.com/taEODKRRgy
— #ROCSydney (@RaceOfChampions) March 8, 2025
The second semi-final was a thriller between Brown and Mostert. In the first leg, Mostert beat Brown in the Polaris. The second leg was spectacular from start to finish as they slid around the circuit in the RC2 rallycross cars. The pair were neck-and-neck at the final turn, but Mostert got the job done by 0.2s as Brown hit the Tecpro barrier again.
In the first leg of the final, Loeb pipped Mostert by 0.276s in the Polaris before a thrilling conclusion in the second leg. Mostert looked like he might force a tiebreaker but was beaten by one tenth of a second in the RC2 rallycross car.
“Absolutely buzzing. This is so unique to anything I’ve ever done before. Such a tight stadium circuit with these rallycross cars and four-wheel-drive cars and so many other different disciplines,” said Mostert.
“I’ve had an absolute ball. The goal was just to see if I could be lucky enough to get out of the first group and I can’t believe I made it all the way to the final. I knew I was going to be up against it. Seb Loeb is obviously one of the best racing drivers in the world, especially at this discipline as well.
“I don’t know how close that last one was but it was pretty I was pretty happy that it wasn’t a straight length away. The Polaris was a lot of fun too, but he is one fantastic driver and I’m just honoured to be on the same Tarmac with him tonight.”
Mostert also took the opportunity to pay his respects to those affected by the ex-cyclone Alfred in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.
“I’m super stoked to be here but I must say I had a heavy heart leaving home and my beautiful family with the cyclone coming through. I just wanted to race hard and make this trip worthwhile for them letting me come,” said Mostert.
“We don’t have any power at home at the moment. I can’t get in communication with my family, but they’re all safe. Everyone is doing it pretty tough in Queensland at the moment.”
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