A couple of weeks ago we were in Paris for the 2006 Race of Champions at the Stade de France, and I thought I’d finally get round to posting some photos from the event. Next year RoC will be held at Wembley and I have to say I’m disappointed because there’s something very special about the Stade de France and I’m not sure Wembley can match it.

RoC comprises two elements: the Nations Cup, where teams of two drivers compete for each nation. This year the organisers were careful to have the two French teams drawn against each other in the first round to ensure that one got through… The other element is the Race of Champions itself, where the drivers are racing for themselves. During the competition the drivers have to drive different types of car.

The RoC buggies (top) are my personal favourite, particularly on a damp track as we had this year, and indeed in 2005.

For the drivers, it’s something very different (for the most part) to the day job, and most of them generally look like they’re having a good time, with the exception of Jimmie Johnson, who looked like he wanted to be anywhere except the Stade de France.

Travis Pastrana, however, won our hearts firstly by being extremely friendly, chatty and enthusiastic, and then driving heroically on his own in the Nations Cup (thanks to the injuries to Johnson and Scott Speed).

The racing was, as ever, great fun. The marshalling was not the best and there were two incidents that could have been very nasty indeed.

Last year the crowd reaction to Sebastien Loeb’s victory was incredible; this year things were slightly more muted thanks to Mathias Ekstrom’s victory.

RoC is very much a celebration of French motorsport and it will be interesting to see how that unique atmosphere translates to Wembley in 2007.

Adieu, Stade de France - you gave us some fantastic memories.