Having
contested his two tests at the pinnacle of motor racing for the Lotus
F1 Team and the Scuderia Ferrari, Esteban Ocon (Prema Powerteam) now
may look forward to the next highlight on his calendar: the reigning
FIA Fórmula 3 European Champion was invited by the Race of Champions
(ROC) organisers to participate in this year’s edition of the
tradition-rich event and accepted the invitation. Consequently, he
will travel to Barbados to battle it out with champions and top stars
of other motor-racing categories in mid-December.
“The
invitation to the Race of Champions represents a dream come true,”
said Ocon. “When I was a child, I was in the Stade de France to
witness the ROC action - and now I’m one of the selected drivers. I
generally like tracks with a lot of corners. For me, the biggest
challenge at Barbados will be to race a tin-top racer as I have
driven only single-seaters, in my career to date. I have not even got
a driving license. But I think that I will be able to cope with this
challenge, too”.
In the
ROC, held on 13th and 14th December, Ocon will have to compete with
the likes of nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, reining Indy
500 champ Ryan Hunter-Reay, multi-time V8 Supercars Champion Jamie
Whincup, reigning FIA World Rally-Cross Champion Petter Solberg,
reigning World Touring Car Champion José-Maria Lopez and other
motor-racing greats. In addition to fighting for the drivers’ title
on Sunday, he also will contest the Nations Cup together with his
compatriot Romain Grosjean who won the 2013 Race of Champions. “I
have known Romain for several years and it’s just great to be
teamed up with him. I hope that we will be able to jointly secure a
good result for France, on Saturday. But it goes without saying that
I would love to beat him in the battle for the drivers’ title on
Sunday”.
ROC
organiser Fredrik Johansson was delighted about the acceptance of the
successful Lotus F1 junior. “Esteban currently is one of the best
up-and-coming drivers. In addition, the ROC history featured numerous
promising young guns that gave the established drivers a very hard
time and partly also secured very good results. And Esteban could add
a new chapter to this streak of successes”.
Photo: FIA F3 Euro Series
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