The Race of Champions (ROC) is an international motorsport event held at the end/start of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers. It is the only competition in the world where stars from Formula One, World Rally Championship, IndyCar, NASCAR, sportscars and touring cars compete against each other, going head-to-head in identical cars. It's inaugural season was 1988.
In 2015 the organisers ran a competition for amateur racing driver champions to submit an entry and be shortlisted for a public vote. The top 2 from the vote would go head to head at the event and the winner win a place in the actual Race of Champions against the worlds top drivers.
Below is my entry:
After being shortlisted, then began an intense two weeks of campaigning where I harnessed the power of Reddit and many friends and family, accumulating nearly 8,000 votes. I made the top 2 and qualified to go.
What followed is a pretty long story, but the videos below give a pretty good idea of what how things went down:
This really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I got to meet and compete with several of my heroes from the racing world, and showcase my talent as a driver on a world stage. Unfortunately the stars did not align and I missed out on the main event. It was one of the tougher pills I've had to swallow, but I learned so much from the experience and am super grateful to have been part of it.