Sébastien Loeb had a fairly rough start to 2025 as he was disqualified from the Dakar Rally then had his 51st birthday ruined by a crash at the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. While it took three months, his luck finally turned this past weekend in Sydney as he became the first driver to win both the Nations Cup and the individual tournament at the Race of Champions.

Loeb and Formula 2 driver Victor Martins represented Team France in the Nations Cup, where they ran the table in the group stage by winning all four races against Finland (Heikki Kovalainen and Valtteri Bottas) and the All Stars (Johan Kristoffersson and Chaz Mostert). In the quarterfinals against New Zealand, Loeb defeated New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon and Louis Sharp, needing a tiebreaker after Martins beat Sharp but received a penalty for hitting the barrier.

The All Stars, formed from the remnants of Team Sweden after Loeb’s W2RC colleague Mattias Ekström bowed out due to illness he contracted in Abu Dhabi, put up a fight in the semifinals as Kristoffersson beat Loeb. However, Martins beat Mostert then exacted revenge against Kristoffersson.

The final pitted France against the host nation Australia’s Supercars team of Brrodie Kostecki and Will Brown. Loeb went up against Brown in Polaris RZR Pro Rs, which should be familiar territory for the former given Sébastien Loeb Racing is the twice reigning Dakar SSV winner in one, though Brown ultimately pulled off the upset. Martins covered for Loeb in the FC2 Rallycross car before delivering the killing blow in the Supercar Lite in the tiebreaker.

It was France’s third Nations Cup win after 2000 and 2004. Loeb was part of the latter effort alongside Jean Alesi.

The individual tournament the day after was organized by discipline, with off-road drivers like Loeb in one bracket and pavement racers in the other. Loeb was granted a first-round bye and got to watch as Molly Taylor, Toby Price, and Oliver Solberg advanced out of the off-road group stage. Price is also a rally raider like Loeb, while Taylor has Dakar experience.

Loeb ran the table in the knockout stage, sweeping every race against Taylor, Oliver Solberg, and eventually Mostert in the final. Beating Mostert in both races earned him his fifth Champion of Champions crown, breaking a tie with Ekström and fellow Frenchamn Didier Auriol.

“It really could not have been a better weekend for us,” said Loeb. “Once we won the Nations Cup, I had achieved something from the event and I could relax and enjoy myself even more.

“When I first came to the Race of Champions, I was a young driver and every time it is different, but the atmosphere is always the same, everyone is having fun and all the drivers are happy to share and discuss things and enjoy a few drinks.

“In the car, of course you want to win, but outside we are having a good time.”

Taylor advanced out of her group against Kristoffersson and Michael Romanidis, the latter a sim racer who qualified by winning the eROC. Solberg won his races against Kovalainen and Travis Pastrana, while Price beat Paddon and Petter Solberg. The Solbergs had won the last Nations Cup in Sweden for Norway.