04/12/2005
NEWS STORY
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Two-time World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb wrapped up his perfect season in WRC this year by clinching a sensational win in the 2005 Race of Champions at the Stade de France in front of more than 50,000 spectators.
The Citroën star won the day's Super-final shootout with Tom Kristensen, just hours after the Dane had secured the ROC-Nations Cup for Team Scandinavia in association with Sweden's Mattias Ekström.
After collecting his second consecutive title in world rallying thanks to a record-breaking score of ten wins, Frenchman Sébastien Loeb concluded his 2005 season with yet another triumph in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 fans at the Stade de France round an all-asphalt track made particularly slippery by the evening's rain.
"Winning the 2003 Race of Champions in the Canary Islands was nice, and I was delighted when I won the Nations Cup here in Paris twelve months ago with Jean Alesi," said Loeb at the finish. "But winning the Champion of Champions crown here at the Stade de France tonight in front of such a huge home crowd is really something special. I could hear them cheering me on from inside the car! I couldn't be happier. In rallying, you build up a win over a period of days and you tend to see it coming. But in an event like this, you're under pressure from the word go, right up to the chequered flag. You just never know what can happen next."
After being eliminated from this year's ROC-Nations Cup at the quarter-final stage earlier in the afternoon and following his defeat in the final of the Race of Champions by Heikki Kovalainen in 2004, the Frenchman tasted sweet revenge this evening. On his way to the final, he eliminated American X-Games superstar Travis Pastrana, who span driving the Xsara WRC, before toppling Scotland's Colin McRae and then fellow two-times WRC champ Marcus Grönholm. Yet his first head-to-head clash with Tom Kristensen in identical Renault Mégane Trophys in the Super-final could easily have handed the initial advantage to the Dane, but the time-keepers finally confirmed Loeb's victory by a margin of 8/100ths of a second as the two drivers crossed the line side by side!
Tom Kristensen's experience told him that if it was that close in the Méganes, he had no option but to pull out all the stops in the second race with the Xsara WRC if he was to stand any chance of taking their contest to a third decisive heat. Shortly after the start, however, the seven-times Le Mans 24 Hours winner made a rare mistake which handed victory to the ecstatic Loeb on a plate. "Given how close it was with the Renaults, it was maximum attack or nothing with the Citroën, a car which Seb has driven all year long," he said. "I didn't have all that much time to familiarise myself with it and I ended up making an early mistake which put paid to any hope I had of achieving a grand slam today. But I can't complain. I won the Nations Cup and I reached the final of the Race of Champions."
The Dane effectively enjoyed an exceptional run today. After triumphing in the Nations Cup with Sweden's Mattias Ekström, he emerged as the most successful 'racer' in the individual Race of Champions contest after eliminating F1 driver David Coulthard, Brazil's Nelson Piquet Jr., four-times NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon (who suffered a mechanical problem on the start line) and finally the outgoing Champion of Champions Heikki Kovalainen… by a mere 7/1000ths of a second, the closest duel of the day!
"My gearbox jammed shifting down after the bridge," said Christijan Albers, after his first round defeat against Jeff Gordon. "I found myself stuck in 3rd gear and I just went straight on into the barrier."
"I was struggling a bit," admitted Dan Wheldon, after his first round defeat against Sébastien Bourdais. "I didn't get in many laps during testing and I didn't compete in the Nations Cup so I didn't get much practice. But it's been a great experience being here and I would love to come back as part of a national team."
"It's been a great event and lot of fun," said David Coulthard, after his first round defeat against Tom Kristensen. "My heat with Tom was very close. I didn't have any major problem, I just finished behind Tom."
"I got a car with cold tyres because the car I was scheduled to drive had crashed. It was so slippery," said Mattias Ekström, after his first round defeat against Nelsinho Piquet:
"This hasn't been such a good year for me at the Stade de France compared with 2004," admitted Jean Alesi, after his quarter final defeat against Felipe Massa. "But it was great being here and I would like to thank organisers Michèle Mouton and Fredrik Johnsson for all their efforts in staging this show. I look forward to coming back next year."
"I had a gearbox problem and that was that," said Massa, after his semi-final defeat against Heikki Kovalainen, "but it's been a great night."
However, Heikki Kovalainen, speaking after his race drivers' final defeat against Tom Kristensen, said: "I had a problem engaging 2nd gear and so that obviously wasn't good for the race. I am very disappointed."
"I didn't drive well this evening," admitted Marcus Grönholm, after his rally drivers' final defeat against Sébastien Loeb. "In the wet it was very difficult and I had a big problem with understeer. I've been beaten by Loeb all year, so I'm beginning to get used to it! Seriously, though, I've had a great time tonight."
In the Nations Cup, Team Scandinavia avenged the defeat of neighbouring Finland at the hands of France in the 2004 ROC - Nations Cup by turning the tables on Team Playstation France to win by three heats to zero.
Denmark's Tom Kristensen led the charge by coming first in his two duels against Champ Car Champion Sébastien Bourdais in the final, while fellow DTM star Mattias Ekström, from Sweden, pushed the Nordic pair's advantage home by getting the better of Dakar specialist Stéphane Peterhansel.
"It's great to come back to the Stade de France this year to win against the home team after being eliminated last year in the first round," said Ekström who represented Sweden at the Stade de France twelve months ago. "The racing has been very close but I think we proved tonight that we were the best team and we are very proud of that. Once we had a 2-0 advantage in the final, I knew we would go all the way. My toughest races were against Marcus (Grönholm) and François (Duval) but I didn't make any mistakes. This is good timing for me because next week I meet with my boss to talk about 2006!"
"It feels great to have won," echoed Kristensen who was also successful on French soil earlier in the year when he picked up a record seventh win in the Le Mans 24 Hours. "My most difficult fight was with Jeff Gordon. That was very tight. But it was also a close run thing with Sébastien Bourdais in the final. There are a few places on the track where you can sense where the other driver is, but the biggest enemy is not so much your opponent but driving cleanly and keeping the car on the track. I don't know if I will win the individual Race of Champions later because this is my first time here in the Stade de France."
"I'm sorry I couldn't win for France tonight. I will just have to wait to try again next year," said defeated finalist Sébastien Bourdais who succumbed to Kristensen's superior speed in both his encounters with the Dane. "It was very difficult for my team-mate Stéphane Peterhansel who is not really in his element on an event like this. But we did well to make it all the way to the final. First we had to beat Alesi and Loeb, and that was close. The challenge is the fact that you have to adapt so quickly to the different cars."
On its way to the final, the Scandinavian team put in a perfect scorecard by eliminating Benelux, last year's finalists Finland and the USA without losing a single race.
Team Playstation France kicked off its evening by defeating the French 'A' team - comprised of 2004 Nations Cup winners Sébastien Loeb and Jean Alesi - before going on to defeat Britons Colin McRae and David Coulthard in the semis.
To check out our Race of Champions picture gallery, click here