Kovalainen takes best-of-3 over Loeb to win Race of Champions
SAINT-DENIS, France (AP) – Heikki Kovalainen of Finland beat world rally champion Sebastien Loeb of France to win the Race of Champions on Saturday. Kovalainen downed Loeb 2-0 in a best-of-three legs final at Stade de France after overcoming seven-time Formula One Champion Michael Schumacher in an elimination heat.
“I never thought I would be the champion here. It really is a great race and the fans created a super atmosphere,” said Kovalainen, the 2004 World Series by Nissan champion.
The Race of Champions, a yearly event since 1988, featured 16 pilots from various motor racing disciplines, including NASCAR, Champ Car and Indy 500 specialists.
The Stade de France, home of the French soccer and rugby teams, was covered by a .6-mile asphalt figure-eight track with a crossover bridge.
Kovalainen selected a Peugeot 307 rally car to take on Loeb in his familiar Citroen Xsara.
Kovalainen took the first leg by a small margin, and clinched victory when Loeb – winner of last year’s Race of Champions – incurred a 10-second time penalty when he tipped the side of his car into a barrier after dominating the second leg.
“I just hit something and was eliminated but that’s how it goes,” said Loeb, who this year became the first Frenchman to win the Rally Worlds since Didier Auriol in 1994.
Some 60,000 fans, hoping to see their countryman force a deciding leg, jeered the time-penalty handed to Loeb.
In the elimination rounds, competitors were split into two groups of eight – called the Rally Group and the Racing Group.
After quarterfinals and semifinals, the winner of each group met head-to-head for a place in the overall final to decide the Champion of Champions.
Schumacher, winner of a record 83 Grand Prix races and the last five Formula 1 Championships with Ferrari, lost his Racing Group final to Kovalainen after picking up a 10-second penalty.