Event>>2008 Race Of Champions

Take 16 top motorsport professionals, add five types of car, season with a world famous stadium and a goodish crowd and you have the ingredients for a proper winter warmer.

In fact you have just cooked up the 2008 edition of the Race of Champions. As in previous years there were two competitions, the drivers being paired up on national lines for the Nations Cup and then individually for the Race of Champions proper.

Wembley Stadium was laid out with tarmac over the hallowed turf making up a giant Scalextic figure of eight course. As you can see the place was not full but considering the near zero temperatures, the proximity to Christmas and the fallout from the financial disasters haunting us all, it was pretty respectable, certainly more than most race meetings pull in.

Of course motorsport in the UK is very high profile at present with Lewis Hamilton's World Title fresh in everyone's mind. So a personal appearance is guaranteed to bring the faithful out in droves. Here he scares his father, Anthony, in a Benz 722. It will be early to bed for Lewis!

As part of the hype to sell the main event a race was proposed between Lewis in the 722 and Triple Olympic Champion, Chris Hoy, who would ride his competition bike in an ultimate contest of man versus machine. Of course while this made perfect sense when uttered out loud at a meeting early in the year, the reality of such competition in near freezing conditions on an exposed track was pure Monkey Tennis. Hoy tried out the course during the preceeding week and figured that he would most likely end up in hospital as a result of losing control on the treacherous surface. Oil, ice tarmac, speed and narrow tyres are not a good mix. So Lewis drove him round in the Merc, both waving at the crowds and then they headed off to Liverpool and an evening at .the BBC Sports Review of the year, Hoy took the main award beating Hamilton.

Back in the main event there were plenty of other stars on duty. Andy Priaulx, three time World Touring Divers' Champion was paired up with Jenson Button. Button was putting a brave face on when asked a raft of daft questions about the shock decision of Honda to pull the plug on its F1 team. While cushioned financially with a three year contract recently signed, JB is having to face the possibilty that his Grand Prix career is at an end. If there is no rescue for the Brackley based team then he will not be on the grid in 2009. Memories in F1 are very short and there is a new generation of drivers, spearheaded by Hamilton, ascending the heights, much in the way Button himself burst onto the scene six or seven years ago.

Prominent in this group of new kids on the block is Sebastian Vettel, who became the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix back in September, taking victory at Monza.  Vettel has a confident air about him, like Lewis, he appears to fear nothing, nor does he allow anything to faze him…….. "Sweet Bird of Youth" indeed.

Vettel's team mate in the Nations' Cup was none other than Michael Schumacher, seven time World Champion. Perhaps they could look at each other and see the future and the past. There was a saying in medieval times "What you are, we once were, what we have become, you will be" used to illustrate the transient nature of youth, fame and life, it would be an apt phrase for these two. I had last seen Michael in the flesh during his days driving a Sauber in the final years of Group C back in 1990, he had a certain prescence then and he certainly has that now in spades, he knows that for a long while he was the MAN. It is something you never lose. You could see the visible effect he had on the other drivers, even this stellar bunch.

At the other end of the fame scale, at least this side of the Atlantic, was Tanner Foust. Tanner was a last minute substitute for Travis Pastrana who was injured in an accident last week. Guys in the media centre wanted to know his background and of course being a proper SpeedHunter I was able to fill them in about drifting titles and indeed what drifting is. Talk about the blind leading the blind!

The other half of Team USA was NASCAR star Carl Edwards. Before the action had started he was already in front of the field. After the Saturday press conference carl received the TAG Heuer Award for being the top driver in 2009. Like most racers he is keen on watches so the prize of a Grand Carrera Chronograph made him very happy and he insisted on telling us the time on a regular basis………….boys and their toys.

Scandanavia and Audi were represented by Mattais Ekstrom and Tom Kristensen. Ekstrom, winner of the past two events was looking to make it a hat trick while TK wanted to add the title to his long list of wins, Number One was just glad to see him again fully recovered from his DTM shunt last year.

One of the problems faced by all organisers of such events is what to feed the public while the main show is off stage. An oil slick, allegedly laid by David Coulthard all round the circuit, accounted for the Hoy/Hamilton show. It also was a major contributory factor in the canning of the celebrity race after the motely collection of comedians and boxers crashed the little Abarths at every opportunity, for some it would raise the biggest laugh of their careers. So the old standby, stuntman Terry Grant was called upon to step up to the plate, apparently setting his 16th World Record. As the breathless press release said:

"Grant (42), re-broke his own record on the by holding his TVR Tamora in a continuous power slide, pirouetting 86 times on the temporary laid Wembley racetrack in a dramatic combination of engine revs and tyre smoke.

Oh well, it was that or stand in a queue for an £8 burger.

Even madder were the Red Bull X Fighters who took to the skies forming an unlikely combination of gymnastics and motorbikes, a dangerous mix like whiskey and gorillas, too much sponsor's produce somewhere down the line I'd wager.

And then we had Santa's Little Helpers who proved extremely popular with the male section of the crowd even if they were not Strictly Ballroom, I wonder how they kept warm?

Then it was time for action on the track. First up was the Nations Cup. Real countries such as the Germany, Ireland, France, and the USA took on Scandanvia, Team All Stars and locals, Autosport GB and F1 Racing GB.  It provided the first big upset of the day when Mattias Ekstrom beat Sebastian Loeb in the  WRC Ford, who would have put money on that?

Semi final time and Andy Priaulx takes on Tom Kristensen both driving the ROC car. This tie braker was eventually won by the Dane.

The final saw Germany just shade the Scandanavian Audi pair, Michael looks happy and even got the PA to play "Eye of the Tiger", I suppose we were lucky, it could have been 99 Red Balloons or Kraftwerk. (Hey don't you say bad things about Kraftwerk! -Rod)

And no podium would be complete without flinging the Bubbly about……………..

 So on to the Race of Champions proper with sudden death races for all 16 drivers. Troy Bayliss, a three time Super Bike World Champion was out on four wheels in the RX 150 and despite being at a natural disadvantage ran rising F1 star Sebastian Vettel very close.

Then the first upset of the competition, Tanner Foust dumping out local favourite, Jenson Button. Tanner clouted the barriers a couple of times which might have earned him a penalty but the judges were indulgent, the crowd less so. Still he had justified his late selection and given the world of drifting a big boost.

Then the Americans were at it again when Carl Edwards took on Michael Schumacher in the Abarths, this time the crowd cheered their heads off as the NASCAR hero despatched the ex World Champion. As with any pantomine villain Michael took the reverse badly, "looked like he'd swallowed a bee when being interviewed afterwards" said my man David Lister watching the TV in the warm.

The final was a straight fight between Sebastian Loeb and David Coulthard, who showed no signs of his recent retirement from his Formula One cockpit.

In fact the old warhorse forced the rally legend into a best of three by edging the second heat. DC did not win 12 Grand Prix by accident.

But by the thinest of margins Loeb just hit the line first. Most would think him a worthy Champion.

Sebastian received the Henri Toivenen Trophy from another rally legend, Michele Mouton and Wembley saluted the Champion.

-John Brooks

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

14 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

I'm glad to see North America finally taking notice of this amazing event! I made the trip last year and was blown away by the level of competition, the venue and getting to sit in the same room with some of my racing heroes in the press room. It was cold as hell, but totally worth the trip! Congrats to Tanner for his efforts, especially since he was invited so late!

2

Just to let you know its not chris boardman, its actually chris hoy!!!

3

Monkey tennis!

4

Oh and DC won 13 Grand Prix.............at least according to Autosport this week.



John Brooks

5

Great writeup!

6

Sweet pics john, They never cease to amaze me. I sent you something to ponder over on email also.

7

great artice

8

Adam



thnx I knew that and still put up the wrong name............as Homer would so eloquently put it DOH!!!



Hangs head in shame..............and there I am having a go at Autosport for calling Tanner Foust, Tanner Faust...............



I will amend............apologies all round.



John Brooks

9

Yeap, 13, wins all at McLaren :) Should have been more but for...snip - I better not go there :D

10

i like Kraftwerk too!

11

thanks man for the images,and Sebastian Loeb is my favorite

12

I thought Yvan Muller rolled over a bit for Sebastian Loeb. In an interview Yvan said he was just showing up to make the sponsors happy, then he went out and lost a race to Loeb after Loeb had gone through the barriers and had to rejoin the track. Either way, the carnage that DC caused all weekend probably would have meant that he wasn't the organisers favourite for the win :-P

13

Must say was pretty close this year, was hoping DC would win!! i was also impressed with Carl Edward performance, and beating schmacher aswell!!!

14

Am I the only one who thinks Schumacher looks weird wearing a driving suit that is not Ferrari red?

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS