Team Germany are celebrating a record seventh win in the ROC Nations Cup after Sebastian Vettel took a stunning victory all by himself at Miami’s Marlins Park.
But to do it he had to see off the might of Team USA NASCAR’s team of Kyle and Kurt Busch in the final.
On a warm afternoon in Miami, legends from the world’s biggest motor sport series initially teamed up in pairs to battle for national and regional pride.
They raced a mix of cars on a brand new figure-of-eight style track, providing a feast of action for the race fans in the grandstands and watching around the world on television.
Vettel represented Team Germany by himself due to Pascal Wehrlein’s withdrawal from today’s action following his accident yesterday. This was a similar situation to the ROC Nations Cup in Paris in 2006 when Travis Pastrana had to represent Team USA on his own.
On that occasion Jimmie Johnson injured his wrist just three days before the event, then his replacement Scott Speed was injured in F1 testing at Spain’s Jerez circuit the day before the race.
In the end he went through the entire day’s action unbeaten, romping to victory over Team USA NASCAR’s Kyle and Kurt Busch in the final.
The two American brothers had a fantastic evening’s work too, winning a series of tight battles on the unique track twisting around Marlins Park, but they couldn’t match the German in the end.
Vettel reached the final by defeating Team Colombia’s pairing of Gabby Chaves and the individual Champion of Champions from yesterday, Juan Pablo Montoya, in two straight heats.
It was Vettel’s seventh ROC triumph, having won the previous six – from 2007 to 2012 – as teammate to Michael Schumacher.
ex-Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya put in a strong performance to win the title ‘Champion of Champions’ for the first time, and on his first attempt.
Montoya said: “First I want to thank all the fans who came out today. Fredrik Johnsson and everyone at the Race Of Champions have put together an amazing event, it’s unbelievable. Today I’m regretting not having done this before. It has been an amazing experience.
“It’s not our job, it’s a fun event. But when you go to the grid you want to warm the tyres and the brakes. You think about how to drop the clutch, what to do in the first corner. It’s unbelievable how focused you are. It’s like qualifying.”
“I don’t know what gave me the edge. I don’t have pride, I just kept asking people what they were doing. That way I kept adding things to the database of what I needed to do. I spoke to David Coulthard just before the final to ask whether I had to change gears in the cars because I had no idea. It went well… must be beginner’s luck!” added Montoya.
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