The 1999 Race of Champions took place on December 5 at

Gran Canaria Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...

. It was the 12th running of the event, and the eighth running at Gran Canaria. It was the first year for the new Nations' Cup Competition, which saw teams of three competitors - a rally driver, a circuit racing driver and a motorcyclist - team up to represent their nation and compete for national glory. The vehicles used were the

Peugeot 306 Maxi The Peugeot 306 is a small family car built by the French car manufacturer Peugeot from 1993 to 2002. It replaced the 309. Peugeot gave the 306 many updates and aesthetic changes to keep up with the competition, and it was replaced by the 307 in ...

, The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V WRC, the

Toyota Corolla WRC The Toyota Corolla WRC is a World Rally Car built for the Toyota Castrol Team by Toyota Motorsport GmbH to compete in the World Rally Championship. It is based upon the E110 version of Toyota Corolla road car. The car was debuted at the 1997 ...

and the ROC Buggy. The individual competition was won by

Didier Auriol Didier Auriol (born 18 August 1958) is a French former rally driver. Born in Montpellier, and initially an ambulance driver, he competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first driv ...

for a fourth time, whilst the inaugural Nations' Cup was won by Finland with

JJ Lehto Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (; born 31 January 1966), better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. He is also a former Formula One driver. He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula ...

Tommi Mäkinen Tommi Antero Mäkinen (; born 26 June 1964) is a Finnish racing executive and former driver. Mäkinen is one of the most successful WRC drivers of all time, ranking fifth in rally wins (24) and third in championships (4), tied with Juha Kankkune ...

and

Kari Tiainen Kari Tiainen (born 26 August 1966 in Riihimäki) is a Finnish former professional enduro rider. He competed in the World Enduro Championships from 1989 to 2003. Tiainen is notable for being a seven-time World Enduro Champion and held the record for ...

Participants

Race of Champions

Nations Cup

* Toivonen replaced

Danny Sullivan Daniel John Sullivan III (born March 9, 1950), better known as Danny Sullivan, is an American former racing driver. He earned 17 wins in the CART Indy Car World Series, including the 1985 Indianapolis 500. Sullivan won the 1988 CART Champions ...

in the All-Stars team.

Legends Race

Walter Röhrl Walter Röhrl (; born 7 March 1947) is a German rally and auto racing driver, with victories for Fiat, Opel, Lancia and Audi as well as Porsche, Ford and BMW. Röhrl has scored 14 victories over his career, with his notable achievements including ...

Hannu Mikkola Hannu Olavi Mikkola (24 May 1942 − 25 February 2021) was a Finnish champion world rally driver. He was a seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times. Career Mikkola's rally career s ...

eliminated in the First Round.

International Masters

Flavio Alonso Flavio Alonso (born May 11, 1968) is a Spanish rally driver. He is best known for participating in the Race of Champions during the event's tenure at Gran Canaria, the highlight being winning the 'Rally Masters' contest in 1992 and 1996. He also ...

and Luis Mónzon qualified for being the finalists for the Spanish Rally Masters competition. *

Toni Gardemeister Toni Gardemeister (born 31 March 1975) is a Finnish professional rally driver in the World Rally Championship. After previously competing for SEAT's, Mitsubishi's, Škoda's and Ford's factory teams, as well as for privateer teams, he joined the ...

was invited but could not attend. * Michael Guest,

Krzysztof Holowczyc Krzysztof () is a Polish given name, equivalent to English ''Christopher''. The name became popular in the 15th century. Its diminutive forms include Krzyś, Krzysiek, and Krzysio; augmentative – Krzychu Individuals named Krzysztof may choose to ...

, Markko Martin and Adruzilo Lopes were eliminated in the first round.

Race of Champions

Nations' Cup

* Germany & Italy eliminated in the first round.

References

External links

*Information sourced from http://www.atodomotor.com/pagina/ROC.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Race of Champions,1999

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

1999 in Spanish motorsport International sports competitions hosted by Spain 1999,Race of Champions