ROC 2005
Publicado: 03 Dic 2005 13:47
Scandinavia take the RoC Nations Cup
Ekstrom and Kristensen take on and beat all
With 18 drivers representing nine nations all aiming to take the Race of Champions Nations Cup, the duo of Mattias Ekstrom and Tom Kristensen took glory in dominant style seeing off their nearest rivals Team Playstation France in the finals, winning three straight heats to take the win.
The Scandinavian team started off their race winning run by putting Team Benelux out of the competition before eliminating Finland in the quarter finals, USA in the semi finals and finally France in the final shootout. For Playstation France drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Stephane Peterhansel, everything was going their way until the finale.
The British team of Colin McRae and David Coulthard progressed to the semi finals before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up team while the other French team of Jean Alesi and Sebastien Loeb lost out to the Playstation team at the quarter final stages.
The talents of Nelson Piquet Jr and Felipe Massa carried the team to the quarter final stages before being knocked out by the US duo of Jeff Gordon and Travis Pastrana.
Ekstrom and Kristensen are the champions and now head into the Race of Champions on an individual basis looking for the ultimate double victory.
Playoff
Scandinavia (Mattias Ekstrom, Tom Kristensen) Vs Benelux (Francois Duval, Christijan Albers)
Renault Megane – Albers Vs Kristensen – The first race of the day saw some damp patches remaining. Kristensen led the first lap by 0.7s. 1:44.6. A relatively clean run from both drivers with Kristensen crossing the line 1.4s ahead of Albers.
RoC – Duval Vs Ekstom Ekstrom drove a flawless stint to win from Duval by two seconds. This eliminated Team Benelux from the Nations Cup.
Quarter finals
France (Jean Alesi, Sebastien Loeb) Vs Playstation France (Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Peterhansel)
Porsche – Alesi Vs Bourdais - The Champ Car winner wins by the closest margin yet, 0.3s.
RoC - Loeb Vs Peterhansel – Loeb kept it smooth while the Dakar winner oversteered his way to second position, 2.2s down.
RoC – Alesi Vs Bourdais – The deciding race for the two French teams saw just one hundredths separating the duo at the end of the first lap but the Champ Car driver took the win by a tenth of a second. Team France therefore eliminated with Playstation France remaining.
United Kingdom (Colin McRae, David Coulthard) Vs Germany (Bernd Schneider, Armin Schwarz)
Renault Megane - Schneider Vs Coulthard – The F1 driver took the race wins as the DTM brushed the wall at the end of the first lap.
RoC - McRae Vs Schwarz – A fast start from Schwarz but it was McRae who took the win by just over a second. This eliminated Germany from the running.
Brazil (Nelson Piquet Jr, Felipe Massa) Vs USA (Jeff Gordon, Travis Pastrana)
Porsche – Piquet Vs Gordon – Gordon gets too deep into the first turn and loses time only to hit the barriers lightly mid-stint earning a yellow card but it was Gordon who took the win.
RoC – Massa Vs Pastrana – Nothing in it at the intermediate but Massa would take the win by just over a second to make it one each for Brazil and the USA.
RoC – Piquet Vs Gordon – The NASACR driver dominated the heat over Piquet to put Brazil out at the quarter final stage.
Semi Finals
Playstation France (Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Peterhansel) Vs United Kingdom (Colin McRae, David Coulthard)
Porsche - Bourdais Vs Coulthard - A good start for Coulthard but nothing in it at the intermediate. Bourdais would take the win as Coulthard made a slight error in the infield.
Xsara WRC - Peterhansel Vs McRae – Peterhansel left on the line. The Frenchman got going but three seconds down. McRae takes the win to make it one all for France and Great Britain.
RoC - Bourdais Vs Coulthard – The deciding heat saw Bourdais hold a half second advantage at the intermediate but a small problem in the final turn saw Coulthard close the gap – just missing out on the win. Despite the gear-linkage issue Playstation France go through to the final. Coulthard brushed the wall at the final turn making the gap irrelevant.
Scandinavia (Mattias Ekstrom, Tom Kristensen) Vs USA (Jeff Gordon, Travis Pastrana)
Megane - Kristensen Vs Gordon – A slow getaway from Kristensen have Gordon the edge at the intermediate but Kristensen would just take the race win.
Xsara WRC - Ekstrom Vs Pastrana – A stall from Pastrana ended Team USA's chances of a win. This put Scandinavia through to the final against Team Playstation France.
Renault Megane – Kristensen Vs Kovalainen – A double spin for Kovalainen ruined his heat with the Le Mans winner able to take an easy win.
RoC - Gronholm Vs Ekstrom – A dominant win from Ekstrom puts out Finland at the quarter final stage.
Final
Scandinavia (Mattias Ekstrom, Tom Kristensen) Vs Playstation France (Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Peterhansel)
Porsche – Kristensen Vs Bourdais – Heat 1/5 – Both have won all their heats so far – A solid start from Bourdais although Kristensen enjoyed a slight edge at the intermediate and advantage he would maintain until the end. One-nil to Scandinavia.
Xsara WRC - Ekstrom Vs Peterhansel – Heat 2/5 – Fast start from Ekstrom with Peterhansel clipping the wall on the first lap. Ekstrom continued to dominate taking the win by almost four seconds. Two-nil for Scandinavia.
Megane – Kristensen Vs Bourdais – Heat 3/5 – Bourdais lost time off the line but there was nothing in it at the intermediate. Kristensen would take the win by three tenths of a second and claim the Nations Cup for Scandinavia.
Ekstrom and Kristensen take on and beat all
With 18 drivers representing nine nations all aiming to take the Race of Champions Nations Cup, the duo of Mattias Ekstrom and Tom Kristensen took glory in dominant style seeing off their nearest rivals Team Playstation France in the finals, winning three straight heats to take the win.
The Scandinavian team started off their race winning run by putting Team Benelux out of the competition before eliminating Finland in the quarter finals, USA in the semi finals and finally France in the final shootout. For Playstation France drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Stephane Peterhansel, everything was going their way until the finale.
The British team of Colin McRae and David Coulthard progressed to the semi finals before being eliminated by the eventual runner-up team while the other French team of Jean Alesi and Sebastien Loeb lost out to the Playstation team at the quarter final stages.
The talents of Nelson Piquet Jr and Felipe Massa carried the team to the quarter final stages before being knocked out by the US duo of Jeff Gordon and Travis Pastrana.
Ekstrom and Kristensen are the champions and now head into the Race of Champions on an individual basis looking for the ultimate double victory.
Playoff
Scandinavia (Mattias Ekstrom, Tom Kristensen) Vs Benelux (Francois Duval, Christijan Albers)
Renault Megane – Albers Vs Kristensen – The first race of the day saw some damp patches remaining. Kristensen led the first lap by 0.7s. 1:44.6. A relatively clean run from both drivers with Kristensen crossing the line 1.4s ahead of Albers.
RoC – Duval Vs Ekstom Ekstrom drove a flawless stint to win from Duval by two seconds. This eliminated Team Benelux from the Nations Cup.
Quarter finals
France (Jean Alesi, Sebastien Loeb) Vs Playstation France (Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Peterhansel)
Porsche – Alesi Vs Bourdais - The Champ Car winner wins by the closest margin yet, 0.3s.
RoC - Loeb Vs Peterhansel – Loeb kept it smooth while the Dakar winner oversteered his way to second position, 2.2s down.
RoC – Alesi Vs Bourdais – The deciding race for the two French teams saw just one hundredths separating the duo at the end of the first lap but the Champ Car driver took the win by a tenth of a second. Team France therefore eliminated with Playstation France remaining.
United Kingdom (Colin McRae, David Coulthard) Vs Germany (Bernd Schneider, Armin Schwarz)
Renault Megane - Schneider Vs Coulthard – The F1 driver took the race wins as the DTM brushed the wall at the end of the first lap.
RoC - McRae Vs Schwarz – A fast start from Schwarz but it was McRae who took the win by just over a second. This eliminated Germany from the running.
Brazil (Nelson Piquet Jr, Felipe Massa) Vs USA (Jeff Gordon, Travis Pastrana)
Porsche – Piquet Vs Gordon – Gordon gets too deep into the first turn and loses time only to hit the barriers lightly mid-stint earning a yellow card but it was Gordon who took the win.
RoC – Massa Vs Pastrana – Nothing in it at the intermediate but Massa would take the win by just over a second to make it one each for Brazil and the USA.
RoC – Piquet Vs Gordon – The NASACR driver dominated the heat over Piquet to put Brazil out at the quarter final stage.
Semi Finals
Playstation France (Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Peterhansel) Vs United Kingdom (Colin McRae, David Coulthard)
Porsche - Bourdais Vs Coulthard - A good start for Coulthard but nothing in it at the intermediate. Bourdais would take the win as Coulthard made a slight error in the infield.
Xsara WRC - Peterhansel Vs McRae – Peterhansel left on the line. The Frenchman got going but three seconds down. McRae takes the win to make it one all for France and Great Britain.
RoC - Bourdais Vs Coulthard – The deciding heat saw Bourdais hold a half second advantage at the intermediate but a small problem in the final turn saw Coulthard close the gap – just missing out on the win. Despite the gear-linkage issue Playstation France go through to the final. Coulthard brushed the wall at the final turn making the gap irrelevant.
Scandinavia (Mattias Ekstrom, Tom Kristensen) Vs USA (Jeff Gordon, Travis Pastrana)
Megane - Kristensen Vs Gordon – A slow getaway from Kristensen have Gordon the edge at the intermediate but Kristensen would just take the race win.
Xsara WRC - Ekstrom Vs Pastrana – A stall from Pastrana ended Team USA's chances of a win. This put Scandinavia through to the final against Team Playstation France.
Renault Megane – Kristensen Vs Kovalainen – A double spin for Kovalainen ruined his heat with the Le Mans winner able to take an easy win.
RoC - Gronholm Vs Ekstrom – A dominant win from Ekstrom puts out Finland at the quarter final stage.
Final
Scandinavia (Mattias Ekstrom, Tom Kristensen) Vs Playstation France (Sebastien Bourdais, Stephane Peterhansel)
Porsche – Kristensen Vs Bourdais – Heat 1/5 – Both have won all their heats so far – A solid start from Bourdais although Kristensen enjoyed a slight edge at the intermediate and advantage he would maintain until the end. One-nil to Scandinavia.
Xsara WRC - Ekstrom Vs Peterhansel – Heat 2/5 – Fast start from Ekstrom with Peterhansel clipping the wall on the first lap. Ekstrom continued to dominate taking the win by almost four seconds. Two-nil for Scandinavia.
Megane – Kristensen Vs Bourdais – Heat 3/5 – Bourdais lost time off the line but there was nothing in it at the intermediate. Kristensen would take the win by three tenths of a second and claim the Nations Cup for Scandinavia.
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