2023 Supercars champion and reigning Bathurst 1000 winner Brodie Kostecki will replace Jamie Whincup in Team Australia Supercars at the 2025 Race Of Champions Accor Stadium spectacular
Kostecki will be teaming up with his former Erebus Motorsport teammate Will Brown for Friday Night’s ROC Nations Cup
The 33rd edition of The Race Of Champions will include superstars from F1, World Rallying, Supercars, Rallycross, NASCAR, Extreme E and Dakar
Accor Stadium to be turned into a spectacular side-by-side 1km asphalt race track when this unique event is hosted for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere
Tickets from $49 on sale now through Ticketek
Reigning Bathurst 1000 winner and 2023 Supercars champion Brodie Kostecki will replace Jamie Whincup at Team Australia Supercars for this week’s Race Of Champions at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, March 7-8.
Whincup, a seven-time Supercars champion, has withdrawn from the event because of the force and unpredictability of Cyclone Alfred which is currently lashing his home region of South-East Queensland.
The category two cyclone is expected to produce unprecedented rain today and is predicted to cross land just north of Brisbane tomorrow with winds gusting up to 120kph, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Whincup would have been having his third start at ROC after competing in Bangkok in 2012 and ROC Barbados two years later.
Ironically, Kostecki will partner reigning Supercars champion Will Brown, who was his teammate when he won the 2023 Supercars title for Erebus Motorsport.
The Kostecki announcement comes one day after fellow Supercars star Chaz Mostert was announced as a replacement for four-time ROC winner, Swedish driver Mattias Ekström who had to withdraw on medical grounds. Alister McRae has also replaced his injured son Max and will drive with former F1 star David Coulthard at Team Great Britain in Friday’s ROC Nations Cup.
It has been a big 18 months for Kostecki who won the Supercars title in 2023, the Bathurst 1000 in October and who, in between, announced that he would be joining Shell V-Power Racing Team, as part of the iconic Dick Johnson Racing squad, and competing in a Ford Mustang in 2025.
In the opening race of the Supercars season at Sydney Motorsport Park (SMP) two weeks ago, Kostecki came away eighth in the points.
In a short time, Kostecki has become a Supercars crowd favourite because of his casual personality and his tough “take no prisoners” driving style.
Kostecki is regarded as a “racer’s racer” and has been living the breathing the sport since he moved to the US as a young teenager, chasing his motorsport dream.
Ironically one of the drivers he looked up to while trying to forge his US career, NASCAR champion Kurt Busch, will be competing in Sydney as part of Team USA with 11-time X-Games gold medalist Travis Pastrana.
There will now be eight countries and nine nationalities represented in the ROC Nations Cup on Friday night including Australia (x2), Germany, France, Norway, Great Britain, New Zealand, USA and Finland as well as the All Stars line-up with Chaz Mostert and Sweden’s 7-time Rallycross World Champion Johan Kristofferson.
The 20 invited international drivers will represent their respective countries/team in the ROC Nations Cup on Friday and then go head-to-head for the Champion of Champions individual crown on Saturday night on a spectacular side-by-side 1km asphalt track which is currently in the finishing stages of a seven-day 24/7 construction.
Team Germany, led by four-time F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel and former F2 champion Mick Schumacher, heads the ROC Nations Cup line-up.
As host nation, Australia will be represented by two teams. The first will be Team Australia Supercars now headed by Kostecki and Brown, while Team Australian Off-Road will comprise rally ace Molly Taylor and two-time Dakar winner, Toby Price.
The 20 invited drivers will represent their respective countries/teams in the ROC Nations Cup on Friday to battle for the Title the “world’s Fastest Nation” and then go head-to-head for the Race Of Champions individual “Champion of Champions” Crown Saturday night on the spectacular side-by-side 1km asphalt track.
The 20 competitors will battle it out in a range of six different vehicles including the FC2 Rallycross, Supercar Lite Rallycross, KTM X-Bow Comp R, Polaris RZR Pro R, Subaru BRZ tS and Toyota GR86 Cup machines.
Every heat is a head-to-head duel in two identical cars on the spectacular ROC Parallel asphalt track, so that only the driver's skill determines the winners. Heats are often decided by just a fraction of a second, so timekeeping will be to 1/10,000s of a second precision.
The Race Of Champions comes one week before the opening round of the F1 World Championship in Melbourne (March 13-16), creating a massive two weeks of motorsport in Australia.
What Brodie Kostecki said:
“It was certainly a surprise and a little surreal to be honest when Fredrik (Johnsson) called me to invite me to ROC Sydney,”said Kostecki.
“The field was set and I was already planning to stay at home on Friday and Saturday night to watch the telecast and cheer on the Australian teams - now I will be a part of it.”
“Race Of Champions is such an iconic event and this might be the only chance I have to compete for Australia in front of a home crowd.”
“I am sure Jamie (Whincup) would prefer to be in Sydney rather than having to ride out the storm, but can’t say I am disappointed that he has made the decision he has.”
“I would like to thank the ownership of Shell V-Power Racing for not only allowing me to participate this weekend, but for being enthusiastic and supportive of the opportunity.”
What Jamie Whincup said:
“While I would love nothing more than to be at Accor Stadium racing in the ROC this weekend, the reality is that I need to be in Brisbane looking after my friends and family with Cyclone Alfred on the way,” said Whincup.
“I wish everyone a great weekend at the ROC, but, more importantly, I wish for the safety of everyone in northern NSW and southeast Queensland as we brace for Mother Nature to show her own horsepower.”
What Fredrik Johnsson, Race Of Champions President and Co-Founder, said:
“Jamie (Whincup) has been a great friend of Race Of Champions for several years and was enormously supportive of us when we announced we would be coming to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time at Sydney’s Accor Stadium,” said Fredrik.
“We are obviously extremely disappointed that he won’t be able to represent Team Australia Supercars in front of his home crowd, but we understand his position and hope that he and the rest of the population affected by the cyclone are safe.”
“At the same time we are excited to have Brodie (Kostecki) accept our invitation at such short notice. Brodie is obviously a wonderful talent and has proven a race winner in most vehicles he has driven over the years.”
“We would also like to extend our thanks to Shell V-Power Racing for being equally enthusiastic about Brodie being a part of this unique stadium spectacular.”
2025 ROC NATIONS CUP - FINAL TEAMS LINE-UP
Group A:
Team Finland
Valtteri Bottas (FIN) - 10-time Formula 1 Grand Prix Winner
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) - Formula 1 Grand Prix Winner and 2004 ROC Champion
Team All Stars
Johan Kristoffersson (SWE) - 7-time FIA World Rallycross Champion, Extreme e Champion
Chaz Mostert (AUS) - 2-time Bathurst 1000 winner, class winner Spa 24-Hour, Daytona 24-hour.
Team France
Sebastien Loeb (FRA) - 9-time Rally World Champion, 4-time ROC Champion
Victor Martins (FRA) - 2022 F3 Champion, 2020 F Renault Champion. ART F2 Driver 2025.
Group B:
Team Australia Supercars
Jamie Whincup (AUS) 7-time Supercars Champion
Will Brown (AUS) - 2024 Supercars Champion (AUS)
Team New Zealand
Hayden Paddon (NZ) - 2023 & 2024 European Rally Champion, seven-time NZ Rally Champion
Louis Sharp (NZ) - 2024 GB3 Champion, 2023 British F4 Champion
Team Australia Off-Road
Molly Taylor (AUS) - Australian Rally Champion & 2021 and 2024 Extreme E Champion
Toby Price (AUS) - 2 X Dakar winner on Bikes, 2024 Baja 500 winner in Truck
Group C:
Team Germany
Sebastian Vettel (GER) - 4-time Formula 1 World Champion
Mick Schumacher (GER) - FIA F2 and F3 Champion, Former F1 driver. Current WEC Driver
Team USA
Travis Pastrana (USA) - 11-time X-Games Gold Medalist, 6-time Rally America Champion, Nitrocross Champion
Kurt Busch (USA) - 2004 NASCAR Champion, 2017 Daytona 500 winner
Team Great Britain
David Coulthard (UK) - 13-time Formula 1 Grand Prix Winner, 2014 & 2018 ROC Champion
Alister McRae (UK) - British Rally Champion, FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
Seeded Quarter-Finals:
Team Norway (Defending ROC Nations Cup Champions)
Petter Solberg (NOR) - Rally World Champion and 2-time Rallycross World Champion
Oliver Solberg (NOR / SWE)* - 2024 WRC2 runner-up, Winner 2025 WRC2 Rally Sweden
* Oliver will represent Norway in ROC Nations Cup / Sweden in Race Of Champions
ROC SYDNEY 2025
The ROC Nations Cup takes place on Friday March 7, with drivers paired in teams based on nationality to bid for the title of ‘World’s Fastest Nation’.
The Saturday night (March 8) will see the individual Race Of Champions, when all teamwork goes out of the window and it will be a battle for individual glory and the ‘Champion of Champions’ title.
ROC is renowned for gathering some of the best drivers in the world, including superstars from Formula 1, Le Mans, Nascar, Supercars, World Rally and Rallycross.
Hospitality and Track side packages and General Admission Tickets starting from $49.00 for children and $69.00 for adults. Tickets are on sale now through Ticketek.
EVENT SCHEDULE
Friday 7th March – ROC Nations Cup – to crown the world's fastest Nation Accor Stadium, Sydney
● Doors Open 5:30pm
● Show Starts 6:30pm
● Race Starts 7:30pm
Saturday 8th March – Race Of Champions – to crown the "Champion of Champions" Accor Stadium, Sydney
● Doors open 5:30pm
● Show Starts 6:30pm
● Race Starts 7.30pm