Arrow McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist should feel right at home while representing the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in the Race of Champions (ROC) on Jan. 28-29 on snow and ice in Pite Havsbad, Sweden.
Rosenqvist, from Varnamo, Sweden, will make his debut in the annual event that features global racing superstars from many series and disciplines competing head-to-head in a variety of identical cars on an icy, snowy parallel track built on the frozen Baltic Sea.
“I’m thrilled to finally make my debut in the Race Of Champions,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s an event I’ve followed throughout my childhood all the way until today, and I actually attended it once at Wembley with my dad a few years ago. I have always enjoyed the challenge of driving different cars, and my career has been largely shaped by that curiosity, so I’m tremendously excited to try out the ROC platform and to do so in front of my home fans in Sweden.”
Other drivers making their ROC debut include 2022 FIA Formula 2 champion Felipe Drugovich and World Rally Championship star Thierry Neuville. ROC veterans returning to race in January include retired Formula One World Champions Sebastian Vettel and Mika Hakkinen, F1 race winners Valtteri Bottas and David Coulthard, legendary sports car driver and 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, five-time FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson, and past World Rally Champion Petter Solberg and his son, Oliver.
Rosenqvist won’t be the only driver in the competition with INDYCAR ties. 2023 INDY NXT by Firestone rookie Jamie Chadwick will return to Sweden to race in the ROC. Chadwick, from Great Britain, is a three-time W Series champion.
Additional drivers will be named to the lineup soon.
The 2023 event at Pite Havsbad will start with the ROC Nations Cup on Saturday, Jan. 28, when drivers pair up in teams based on nationality to bid for the title of “World’s Fastest Nation.” Then all teamwork goes out of the window for the individual Race Of Champions on Sunday Jan. 28.