These are the first photos of the one-kilometre track built inside Accor Stadium (Stadium Australia) for the first ever running of the event on Aussie soil.
The asphalt was completed overnight and concrete and tech-pro safety barriers will be installed and then sign-written in the next 24 hours.
In just five days more than 200 staff have worked to create the side-by-side track which will host 20 of the biggest names in motorsport.
The construction has involved more than 400 semi-trailer movements as more than 4500 tonnes of road base and asphalt have been delivered into place.
More than 350 concrete blocks have been delivered eight at a time and craned into place with millimetre precision.
The circuit consists of five different layers including a foundation of more than 11,000sqm of specially designed Geofabric.
On top of that is more than 3600 ply floor boards and then 100mm or 4000 tonne of gravel road base, which was shaped into a track configuration that includes a spectacular 43m cross-over bridge.
Once the layout was finalised, a heavy base of asphalt was applied before a final small-pebble asphalt which gives the circuit its sharp shiny appearance.
The surface of Accor Stadium has a curvature which has a difference in height of 300mm from the centre to the sidelines to allow for drainage.
This presented its own set of challenges with the depth of the track having to be continually adjusted to cater for the variances.
There were delays to the process because of road closures that had to be endured because of Kylie and Billie Eilish concerts at the adjacent Qudos Bank Arena on Friday and Saturday night.
Just hours after the event finishes this weekend, crews will start demolition with the complete ‘bump out’ expected to take two days.
Once all the materials are removed for recycling, the annual replacement of the grass surface will commence in time for Accor Stadium’s opening NRL game on March 27.
The replacement of the current surface with ‘ready to play’ grass was always scheduled at the completion of the heavy summer series of concerts and events.
“Race Of Champions is the most unique event we have ever hosted at Accor Stadium,” said Stephen Saunders, Group General Manager Venues New South Wales.
“It has been truly amazing to see the transformation of our stadium into a world class motor racing circuit.
“The construction team have had their challenges but handled them all in their stride and the result is first class.”
Friday’s opening night includes the ROC Nations Cup where two-driver teams compete for their nominated country to crown the ‘World’s Fastest Nation’. Saturday night will see all drivers going head-to-head for ‘Champion of Champions’ honours.
The complete field will do this in a series of six different vehicles, with entrants going head-to-head in identical versions of each of those cars – making the driver’s skill and not the vehicle’s preparation the deciding factor.
All 20 drivers will battle it out in a range of six vehicles including FC2 Rallycross, Supercar Lite Rallycross, KTM X-Bow Comp R, Polaris RZR Pro R, Subaru BRZ tS and Toyota GR86 Cup machines.
The Race Of Champions comes one week before the opening round of the Formula 1 World Championship in Melbourne (March 13-16), creating a massive two weeks of motorsport in Australia.
Race of Champions tickets are on sale now through Ticketek.com.au.
2025 Race Of Champions schedule
Friday 7th March – ROC Nations Cup – to crown the world’s fastest Nation.
- Doors Open 5:30pm
- Show Starts 6:30pm
- Race Starts 7:30pm
Saturday 8th March – Race Of Champions – to crown the ‘Champion of Champions’.
- Doors open 5:30pm
- Show Starts 6:30pm
- Race Starts 7.30pm
Race of Champions Nations Cup teams
Team Germany
Sebastian Vettel
Mick Schumacher
Team Australia Supercars
Jamie Whincup
Will Brown
Team Australia Off-Road
Molly Taylor
Toby Price
Team New Zealand
Hayden Paddon
Louis Sharp
Team USA
Travis Pastrana
Kurt Busch
Team Norway
Petter Solberg
Oliver Solberg
Team Sweden
Johan Kristoffersson
Mattias Ekström
Team France
Sebastien Loeb
Victor Martins
Team Great Britain
David Coulthard
Max McRae
Team Finland
Valtteri Bottas
Heikki Kovalainen
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