Race of Champions 2009

[KoenigseggBG]

 

The Team Cup (Germany vs. UK) was won by Germany. Michael Schumacher defeated Andy Priaulx. It was awesome, they raced in a buggy at the finals. Before that there was Vettel vs. Priaulx (in a Focus RS) and Schumacher vs. Button (in a buggy). The first duel was won by Priaulx with an amazing lap, in which he gave it all, making drifts, splitting fire from exhausts and everything. Second duel was won by Schumi with half-second lead. I missed the qualifications for the Team Cup but as far as I heard, tomorrow will be the individual racings for the Individual Cup. :) Anyone watched it? Comments, thoughts? :) I hope some videos will be put up soon, so you can watch the awesome lap that Priaulx made against Vettel.

 

Some links :

Click

Click

[T0M722]

I was watching it last night. I don't know whether it was last year or this year though, lol!

[KoenigseggBG]

It was live on EuroSport. Today there should be individual races. :)

[Car Freak]

Booo. Germany so very nearly didn't make it through. If Travis Pastrana hadn't screwed up his final corner against Vettel in the Semis, Team USA would have gone on to the finals!

 

But great racing, as ever. So cool to see the drivers just doing all this for fun, esp away from the FIA.

 

And shame you missed the group stages Koeni. Tom Kristensen (Team Scandinavia) had a huge crash in one of the X-Bows, he oversteered going below the bridge, right rear wheel clipped the side of the tunnel entrance, and lifted the whole car off the ground and spun him 180 degrees!

 

Can't wait for the individual Race of Champions now though :D

[KoenigseggBG]

Ah, I was just randomly browsing the channels and got right when the finals started. Tom Kristnsen was Audi's driver in 24 Hours of Le Mans, right? :)

 

Edit : Damn, no videos around the net, most sites just offer live cameras. :(

Edit 2 : R.I.P. another X-Bow. :( The whole right part of the front got smashed into the wall, tyre turned the other way and the carbon got cracked and fallen off.

[Car Freak]

Yeah that Aussie guy really stuffed it into the wall. Vettel also locked the brakes and flew off the track in the white X-Bow, not sure if there's any damage on it.

 

In the end though,

Mattias Ekstrom

took the win against

Schumi

, first in the ROC buggies, then in the X-Bows.

 

Having said that though, I did really want to see Tanner Foust get further than he did. Congrats to him though, he had an epic drive against Button in the group stages, finishing just 0.050s (5 hundredths of a second) behind Button, they were literally side by side coming over the line.

 

Plenty of drama and great racing at the Race of Champions, though I can't help but feel that in some of the races, the results are influenced way too much by the cars used. For example coming from a rally background, Mikko Hirvonen would be MUCH better with the Focus WRC compared with, say, the X-Bow, and this is a rather unfair advantage for some. I think this is the main reason Button lost in the semi-finals, because he was in the WRC car racing against an ex-rally guy, so obviously the odds wouldn't be in his favour. Still, I really enjoyed watching all of it, can't wait for it to happen again!

[KoenigseggBG]

I wonder why American's team isn't Pastrana-Block. After all, they are the show makers and the RoC is all about show. :D I'm happy that

 

Schumi

 

finally got beaten and Germany didn't won both Team and Individual cups. And I expected Hirvonen to get further. Shame about the X-Bows though, bet those guys at the backstage from KTM wanted to break Pastrana's neck after the second crash. He just came out and said : "We're ok, we're ok..." Doh, he slamed it into the curb after obviously losing. :oook: Anyway, shame only two of us wathced it all, hope some videos will pop out soon, so I can see what I've missed yesterday. :)

[Car Freak]

Well Foust is a drifter, and isn't that all about the show as well?

 

Anyway, agree about the Schumi not winning this, he simply has too many trophies in his cabinet. But yeah there were a few people I was expecting to do better, but failed due to the cars chosen for their race not suiting them (Hirvonen vs Schumi in an X-Bow? Please...)

[KoenigseggBG]

http://www.raceofchampions.com/en/interactive/roc-videos

 

Some downloadable movies here. :)