Grosjean wins Race of Champions

Romain Grosjean won the 2012 Race of Champions with a comprehensive 2-0 victory over Tom Kristensen in the final in Bangkok’s Rajamangala Stadium.

The 26-year-old Frenchman, whose Formula 1 future is yet to be confirmed, was in imperious form and lost only one of his seven head-to-head encounters all afternoon.

Having finished runner-up in Saturday’s Nations’ Cup, Grosjean went one better by defeating eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen in both the RoC buggies and the KTM X-Bows to take the outright prize.

He is the fourth Frenchman to win the RoC, joining Didier Auriol, Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier, who defeated Kristensen in last year’s final.

Grosjean said: “It’s a very good feeling – yesterday in the final, and then today winning. It’s been a long time I haven’t been on the podium actually. To come back at the top level is pretty good. Last year Sebastien Ogier was champion of champions, now myself: now we need to go for the Nations’ Cup.”

Kristensen had progressed into the finals with a near 1.5s victory over David Coulthard in the Audi R8s.

Grosjean meanwhile defeated Nations’ Cup winners Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel en route to the final. For both Germans, it was their only defeat of the tournament.

Schumacher had beaten Grosjean in the opening race of their group, meaning the Frenchman met Vettel in the third quarter final. The three-time F1 world champion suffered an early exit however as a brush with the barriers broke the suspension on his KTM.

Kristensen survived a small brush of his own to progress from his quarter final against Sebastien Ogier, the man who beat him to last year’s crown.

The second and fourth quarter finals were settled in very different manners: Coulthard edged out Ho-Pin Tung by just six hundredths of a second, while Schumacher prevailed over five-time 500cc motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan by eight seconds in a scrappy affair.

Doohan progressed from Group C after Tin Sritrai was penalised in their decisive heat, the Thai driver having finished ahead on the road.

Over in Group D Grosjean also scored a critical victory over 2012 IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay to seal his progress, although Schumacher topped the group with a perfect record.

There was a surprise in Group B as three-time World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx suffered an exit after losing to Kristensen and Thailand’s Nattavude Charoensukawattana.

In his final heat, Priaulx clattered through the Turn 1 barriers and almost made contact with Kristensen on his outside.

Ogier meanwhile topped Group A with a perfect record, while David Coulthard’s early victory over four-time V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup proved the difference and sent the Scot through to the quarter finals.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/real-world-racing/3rdparty/grosjean-wins-race-of-champions

Lucas di Grassi Cecil Green Keith Greene Masten Gregory Cliff Griffith