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Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom Wins Race of Champions
Written by: RACER Staff   http://www.racer.com
12/15/2006 - 07:00 PM
Paris, France
 
Ekstrom surprised reigning champ Loeb - and the partisan crowd. (photo courtesy RaceofChampions.com) » More Photos

Former DTM Champion Mattias Ekstrom staged an upset by defeating home favorite Sebastien Loeb to win the Race of Champions at the Stade de France in Paris.

Ekstrom pipped Loeb, reigning champion in the all-star event, in the opening heat of their best-of-three final shoot-out despite the contest taking place in Loeb's regular mount – a Citroen Xsara WRC! Ekstrom went on to beat Loeb when they met for the second time behind the wheel of Renault Meganes.

In the Nations Cup portion of the event, Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Gronholm beat Travis Pastrana's one-man Team USA. The Finnish pair won the final 2-1 against Pastrana, who had to uphold American honor by himself after original entrant Jimmie Johnson and his replacement, Scott Speed, were forced to skip the ROC due to injuries.

The American driver had to compete in every heat and took some impressive scalps in the competition, including Gronholm, Colin McRae and David Coulthard.

"I've been in trouble from the start really, and I can't believe this," said motocross star turned rally champion. "Jimmie was the anchor of this team
and when he pulled out, I thought I was going to look like a fool out there – in what other world could I beat David Coulthard?"

Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais made it to the final of the circuit drivers' contest and was neck-and-neck with Ekstrom as the pair battled it out in Meganes. However, the Frenchman's chances vanished on the final lap of the race when he collected the barrier.
Ekstrom surprised reigning champ Loeb - and the partisan crowd. (photo courtesy RaceofChampions.com) » More Photos

Pastrana lost out to Loeb in the semi-final, while Spanish Rally Raider Nani Roma threatened to upset Loeb in the quarter-final, leading at the halfway point but ultimately losing to the home hero. Colin McRae knocked out two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm and factory Citroen driver Daniel Sordo on his way to the rally driver final showdown with Loeb. The Scotsman lost out by just one second in an ultra-tight encounter, which could have gone either way.

Double British Touring Car Champion James Thompson fell to five-times DTM champ Bernd Schneider in a rally buggy showdown in the preliminary round. Earlier, Ekstrom had shaded Heikki Kovalainen in the semi-finals after knocking out Schneider.