The Race of Champions was one of the more popular non-championship Formula 1 rounds and ran until 1983. The final event wasn’t exactly packed with top names as most of the 13 runners were made up of midfield and backmarker teams, but it did have reigning champion Keke Rosberg, as well as Ferrari’s René Arnoux.
Arnoux led the early stages but the race was killing his tyres and he had to retire because his team simply ran out of them. That left Rosberg in the lead in his Williams, but he too was suffering from serious tyre blistering. That allowed the Tyrrell of Danny Sullivan catch him, the two engaging in a close, tense duel in the closing laps.
OK, so there may not have been a pass for the lead, but seeing them thrash around the awesome Brands Hatch circuit is so, so cool.
As it was, it ended up being the final non-championship race in F1 history. Well, for the moment anyway – Ross Brawn has talked about the possibility of bringing them back in future…
