Pat, thanks for posting that for me. I finally got a chance to see the race on Sunday night, a whole week later. The event was pretty cool, not as exciting as last year's but still good. Because it was in HD, the visuals were just incredible and made it a real pleasure to watch. It was almost as if you were there.
SPOILERS
My personal commentary is that ze French have it out for anyone not of the amphibious pursuasion, and that's what cost Gordon when his gearbox went on the blink before the start of the quarters. If he was French, they would have had a restart. So, its now a perfect time for a french joke:
Q: How do you get a French waiter’s attention?
A: Start ordering in German.
Race Review
A Rally-Good Show: Sebastien Loeb takes the star-studded Race of Champions
CURT CAVIN - AutoWeek
Published Date: 12/12/05
The annual Race of Champions event in Paris has become a winter wonderland for those who matter most in motorsports.
At dinner on the eve of the race at France’s national soccer stadium, Indy Racing League founder Tony George and his wife Laura were seated at a table of dignitaries. Champ Car World Series co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven joined them. Fancy that.
“It was a good time,” said Kalkhoven, who admittedly doesn’t know George that well. “We just talked socially, though.”
It’s unfortunate that an olive branch was not extended across the crudités because the Paris weekend proved racing is at its best when everyone gets along. In the event’s 20-driver field were champion-caliber drivers from all walks of the sport, competing both for themselves and in pairs for their countries.
Formula One race winners—and those who aspire to be—mingled with the invited champions of George’s IRL, Kalkhoven’s Champ Car, the World Rally Champion- ship, the DTM series and one of the best drivers NASCAR has ever seen. Even Travis Pastrana, five-time X Games motorcycle champion, was on hand to race in the invitation-only affair.
Driving different cars on the same night reminded Jeff Gordon of his USAC days in Indiana
Jeff Gordon chatted up Jean Alesi as smoothly as he did Sebastien Bourdais. Clad in his new Ferrari duds, Felipe Massa talked strategy and fun with Dan Wheldon, who was wearing something other than his familiar Jim Beam uniform (Wheldon is now the property of Ganassi Racing, you might remember). David Coulthard spent considerable time relaxing backstage with countryman Colin McRae, and everyone seemed to want a minute of time with Sebastien Loeb, who would go on to be the event’s individual winner.
“He is the star of France,” said Bourdais of his fellow countryman, who drew a standing ovation from the crowd estimated at 50,000.
At its core, the racing at this event is odd, perhaps even hokey. Drivers race a figure-8 course in pairs in parallel lanes that are just seven meters wide, separated only by moveable barriers that are off-limits to touch. It takes two trips past the start/finish line to complete a lap, and it is difficult to determine a leader until the final corner.
A race distance is two laps, or about 1.24 miles, and there are four different types of cars (the Citroën Xsara used in the WRC, Porsche 911s, boxy Renaults and the official ROC car, a Honda-powered buggy that is the most likeable of all). Of this year’s drivers 11 came from the rally side of the sport, eight from the more traditional racing format. Truthfully, Pastrana fit neither category, though he has some rally experience.
David Coulthard was one member of a field filled with big names.
The team competition known as the Nations Cup was won by Scandinavian drivers Mattias Ekstrom and Tom Kristensen. Le Mans ace Kristensen was beaten by Loeb in the individual finals.
In all, it was a splendid time save mid-race rain and the gearbox failures that knocked Massa and then Gordon out of the individual competition.
Pastrana, the “other” U.S. driver, could not get enough of the scene, and no one would have blamed him for fetching an autograph or two.
“My first race was against a Formula One guy,” he said, unable to remember Massa’s name. “My second was against the best rally driver in the world in his own car [Loeb, two-time WRC titlist]. Yeah, I was out of my league, but I was close to both. How much better can it get?”
Gordon, who was part of the winning U.S. team in 2002, liked racing different cars on the same night, a throwback to his USAC days as a teenager back in Indiana. When the Paris pavement got wet, it wasn’t easy to hold the car in such tight quarters, but Gordon had a blast trying. He went 4-1 excluding the failed gearbox. Gordon beat Nelson Piquet Jr. twice, Bourdais, and former Minardi driver Christijan Albers.
“It was exciting from the get-go, slipping and sliding around,” said Gordon, who skipped NASCAR’s awards ceremony in New York to attend the ROC test day in Paris. “It was unbelievable, and it definitely took me back to my midget and sprint days.”
WRC titlist Sebastien Loeb exacted revenge on 2004 winner Heikki Kovalainen on his way to overall victory.
Something else about Gordon’s trip to Paris: He wasn’t recognized as much as you might expect. He arrived at the hotel wearing a tight stocking cap and the early stages of a beard. Pastrana mistook him for someone else. Gordon loved it.
“I love Paris, and it’s a real thrill to get to race different guys in different cars,” he said. “And I got to win a couple of races.”
Gordon’s race with Bourdais was arguab ly the event’s best, and if not for Kristensen and to a lesser extent Loeb, the U.S.-based racers were the stars of the show. Bourdais appeared to have Gordon beat in their head-to-head battle, but Gordon deftly handled the tight corners better under pressure. Gordon is not used to having a car carrying that much grip, which he used to chase down Bourdais off the final corner.
Still smarting from gearbox failure in last year’s elimination race against Michael Schumacher, Bourdais blamed this year’s loss on drawing the black buggy instead of the faster red one. But he couldn’t argue with the driver who beat him.
“He’s incredible,” Bourdais said of Gordon.
Bourdais had a lot to be proud of, too, and his three-year stint in the United States drew praise from Gordon, who watched the Champ Car star beat Mark Martin in an IROC race this year at Texas Motor Speedway. “The guy is very good, that’s obvious,” Gordon said.
Relegated to France’s second ROC team behind Loeb and Alesi, Bourdais won his first four races to carry two-time Dakar winner Stephane Peterhansel with him to the team finals. Bourdais scored two wins at Alesi’s expense, two more at Coulthard’s.
Bourdais seemed unfazed that his first opponent in the individual portion was Wheldon, the IRL champion.
“When we’re here there’s no such thing as Formula One drivers or Champ Car drivers or whatever,” he said. “We’re just a bunch of professional race car drivers trying to beat the hell out of each other.”
Wheldon didn’t have a teammate for the two-man contest, which meant he didn’t have a proper chance for the night-capping individual pursuit. Because Friday’s practice was rain-shortened, Wheldon had only one practice lap in the buggy in which he had to race Bourdais.
Bourdais had six races on the track to that point, which made him a heavy favorite. As expected, he easily left Whel-don behind.
“Hardly fair, but what are you going to do?” said Wheldon, who was headed to England for a pair of season-ending awards ceremonies, including the prestigious British Racing Drivers Club, which named him British driver of the year. “Oh, well. I got him at Indy, he got me here. We’ll have to have a go at it again sometime.”
Pastrana wants another shot at his four-wheel friends, too. Pastrana injured his right knee Friday in Paris practicing for a freestyle motorcycle exhibition. It was all he could do to limp around without crutches.
“This was a very good experience,” Pastrana said, obviously not referring to the tumble he took on the bike. “I hope to be back.”
As do we.