Esteemed American racer, Ryan Hunter-Reay has announced that he’ll be racing in this years Race of Champions. By doing so, he becomes the fourteenth driver to be announced and increases the probability of a Team USA being entered to the Nations Cup.
As one of the United States most decorated racing drivers, Hunter-Reay won the Indianapolis 500 last year to add on to his IndyCar title that he achieved in 2012.
The Indy 500 hadn’t been an easy race for him having been in a wheel-to-wheel fight with Helio Castroneves for the final six laps of the race, eventually crossing the line 0.06 seconds ahead, contributing to the races closest ever finish.
He also proudly holds the record of being America’s most successful open-wheel racing driver with more race wins than any other American racing driver combined. He is also the only driver to have collected victories in CART, ChampCar, ALMS, GrandAm and of course Indycar.
“I’m delighted to be returning to the Race Of Champions for the third time.” said Hunter-Reay, who made his ROC debut in 2012. “I’ve really enjoyed my first two appearances in Bangkok and Barbados. It’s great fun to go head-to-head with some of the best drivers from the top motorsport disciplines from around the world.”
“It’s a unique challenge to jump in and out of all the cars – when you get such a short amount of seat time in each. However, last year I won five out of my six races in the groups so I hope I’m starting to get the hang of it!”
“Now I’ll see if I can convert that into a good run through the knockout stages too. I’m proud to represent America, IndyCar and the Indy 500 in such a prestigious event and I look forward to hearing the noise of the crowds at London’s former Olympic Stadium later this month.”
The United States becomes the ninth nation to be announced, however; with four UK representatives, three of which have been confirmed, and the likely probability of the Nordic drivers pairing up, an all star team will have to be created.
With only one international seat remaining, it’s likely that they’ll be from one of the nations with only a single representative. These include Spain, France and now the United States.
