Sweden to host Race of Champions

[Speedworx]

Some of the world's top touring car drivers will take part in a 'Race of Champions' event in Sweden next month.

Organisers have targeted British Touring Car champions John Cleland, Alain Menu and local hero Rickard Rydell as the main players in the event, which is aimed to emulate the highly successful rally equivalent held in the Canaries each winter. Other stars such as Peter Kox, Roberto Colciago and Jan 'Flash' Nilsson are scheduled to compete, while former F1 star turned sportscar ace Stefan Johansson is also being lined up for a place on the starting grid.

Volvo will supply the identical 265bhp, turbocharged S60 racing models for the race, as it gears up for a new one-make saloon series next season.

"It will be good fun to do it," said 1997 and 2000 BTCC champ Menu. "It will be nearly a year since I raced in the BTCC or competed in a front-wheel drive car. I was asked to do it by Rickard [Rydell] and I said yes because it will be good fun to race against some of these guys again."

Menu says the event is unlikely to turn into a no-holds-barred crashfest: "We are there to promote a new series for Volvo - the idea isn't to wreck as many cars as possible. It's something new for me too because I've never raced in Sweden. I tell you what, I bet I'm more well known there than I am in Switzerland."

The event will allow Menu to race against Cleland once again. The pair were often verbal as well as on-track rivals - including the memorable "Menu's a Swiss clot" and "Cleland is jealous of me" jibes - but Alain insists there are no scores to settle.

"Cleland is mate, we get on fine," he said. "But I also guess it's an opportunity to show him that he's too old now!"

The Race of Champions event will take place at Knutstorp on September 2, supporting the penultimate round of the Swedish Touring Car Championship

[JMeissner]

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