U.S. in Nations Cup defence

THE MICHELIN Race of Champions motorsport spectacular in Gran Canaria, in its 16th year, will have its usual and exciting head-to-head Race of Champions as well as the fifth running of the ROC Nations Cup team competition.

Former world rally champion and current ROC champion Marcus Gronholm is among four drivers seeded for Sunday's Michelin Race of Champions. The Finnish ace narrowly defeated rising star Sebastien Loeb in last year's final. Loeb is also in the quarter final-line-up along with Francois Duval and Gilles Panizzi. They will be joined by the "best of the rest" from Saturday's contests. In the ROC Legends, the finalists from the first-ever Race of Champions in Paris in 1988, Juha Kankunnen and Timo Salonen, will renew rivalry.

They will also complete a number of exhibition laps in an Audi S1, Lancia 037 and Ford RS200.