Race of Champions - Schumacher eliminated 1st round!

[buh_buh]

Damn cable!

[benyl]

It was on practically all day.

MS: "I thought the race was over hehe"

What a dumb ass. I guess he needed a computer to tell him how many laps he had left? Maybe the flag man would have given him a clue?

[rage2]

haha yea, what was up with that, thinking his race was 3 laps and giving up? What a dork.

Good to see that all the top drivers are so close to each other. MS vs Sebatian Loeb. What a great (and close) race of 2 great drivers.

[Team_Mclaren]

or when that dumbass guy asked him
"How did you like the win against Massa?"
MS:"I won? I thought i lost...."

I didn't watch the nations cup, only the champ of champs. That Finish guy is truly amazing, first non rally driver to win ever i think. It was awesome when after he beat ms, jump on top of the 360 going crazy!

i watched it on bell expessVu

[rage2]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
or when that dumbass guy asked him
"How did you like the win against Massa?"
MS:"I won? I thought i lost...."

I didn't watch the nations cup, only the champ of champs. That Finish guy is truly amazing, first non rally driver to win ever i think. It was awesome when after he beat ms, join on top of the 360 going crazy!

i watched it on bell expessVu

MS had no clue because Massa was actually penalized for grazing one of the walls. The same penalty that wasn't enforced in the Nations Cup against the French where the impact was 10000x more harsh. So my title is wrong (but right at the time!)

Because the event was run as a "fun" event for charity, fixes are OK, and was fairly obvious hehe.

If MS actually did get eliminated in round 1, the crowd would not be too pleased.

Did anyone notice how mediocre David Coulthard was? Just like in F1, inconsistent, and not terribly fast.

[Team_Mclaren]

Well i still thinks that those penalies are stupid, who cares if they hit the wall... its not like its gonna make you faster (unintentional).

DC was slow in the first round, how did he do in the nations cup?... and wtf were they thinking racing those little motorbike engine powered little cars in the first round? couldn't the find something better and more attractive...? (i dont know... but i just hate them).


no one knew about those penalties, those two guys from HDNet really sucked! First it was the "i dont know any rules and wtf is going on" , then mixed up cars between Bourdais and Schumacher even tho flags were there waving on the damn car! "Oh i think Schumacher has a problem with the car... Bourdais is leading the race by 2 secs". Everything they said were lame ass also, worse than Speed channel doing F1... (which i think is horrible)

[hjr]

http://www.masrallye.com/campeones/campeones2.asp

shows that shui made it to the 3rd round. beating Bourdais in a ferrari before loosing to Kovalainen, who then beat Loeb in the final round.

It should probably be noted that McRae got shafted in the first round though

[hjr]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
... and wtf were they thinking racing those little motorbike engine powered little cars in the first round? couldn't the find something better and more attractive...? (i dont know... but i just hate them).

those are ROC cars. they generally use them in the first round to get everyone acclimatized to the track (that said, usually the track is gravel, not paved). Then they move to full wrc spec cars (206 for a long while). This year with the large road contingent and asphault course, they threw in the 360 for the road guys and the 307 or Xsara for the rally guys. then the final is run with one road and one rally car and then either or if nessisary.

[BigMass]

Yeah but Michael beat Loeb so Michael would make a better rally driver than Loeb right? That whole event was a joke and fairly boring to watch at that. Most of the divers didnt take it seriously and were just having fun. I can't believe anyone would judge driving ability from that. Even if Michael won every race it would prove nothing in terms of driving ability. The whole event was pretty much a light hearted joke/get together for professional drivers.

[Team_Mclaren]

i wouldnt think of it as a big joke or whatever... but no one likes to lose, thats for sure. everyone looked pretty serious when racing, i dont believe that they are going FULL OUT but again, they are there to win.

[rage2]

Originally posted by hjr
http://www.masrallye.com/campeones/campeones2.asp

shows that shui made it to the 3rd round. beating Bourdais in a ferrari before loosing to Kovalainen, who then beat Loeb in the final round.

It should probably be noted that McRae got shafted in the first round though

Schuey lost the 1st round (so we thought at the time), but later it was shown that Massa nudged the wall somewhere and got penalized 10 seconds, therefore giving MS the win. Even MS thought he lost.

Originally posted by BigMass
Yeah but Michael beat Loeb so Michael would make a better rally driver than Loeb right? That whole event was a joke and fairly boring to watch at that. Most of the divers didnt take it seriously and were just having fun. I can't believe anyone would judge driving ability from that. Even if Michael won every race it would prove nothing in terms of driving ability. The whole event was pretty much a light hearted joke/get together for professional drivers.

haha schuey lover!

MS would probably make a great rally driver, but the race was in a F360, so it'd make him a better sports car driver. It's too bad that MS wasn't allowed to drive the rally cars due to contractual agreements. Spec car races like this shows off raw talent, and is a really good indictation of driver skill. Drive 4 different types of cars, completely identical, and good comparison between drivers. They should do a special like this every year with the F1 circus .

Brings back memories of when Senna beat F1's elite in a MB 190E spec race... look how far it's gotten him.

[rage2]

Originally posted by Team_Mclaren
i wouldnt think of it as a big joke or whatever... but no one likes to lose, thats for sure. everyone looked pretty serious when racing, i dont believe that they are going FULL OUT but again, they are there to win.

Quote from the MS press conference...

RoC: Will you try and win though?

M. S.: "Have you seen a race driver when you give him a steering wheel he doesn't give his best. I haven't. I think I'm a race driver too….!"

Here's a screenshot of the action in HD .

[hyperwhite]

holy shit thats one hell of a stadium they're in. but it looks like it is all tarmac, where did they race the rally cars?

[rage2]

They raced everything in the same venue. Rally cars, F360, and the ROC buggy.

Here's a clip of the MS vs HK race, where MS got knocked out in the final round of the circuit racer's championship.

http://www.virgeweb.com/rage2/misc/roc1sd.zip

[Z_Fan]

Nice vid. Thanks for posting.

MS sucked on the launch. He was a second behind by the first corner. Hahahah...

[iceburns288]

Is it just me, or do those 360s sound amazing...

We cancelled our HDNet sub a few months ago.

[rage2]

Interview with Heikki Kovalainen after the race of champions win:

Heikki, you were the youngest driver competing in the ROC and also the least experienced. How did you win?

I was able to adapt to the cars very quickly, which meant I found more grip than the others. Adaptability is definitely one of the keys to success. I also learned the circuit very quickly which helped. But to be honest, I still can't believe it: the other drivers are all very talented, with lots of experience! It's hard to believe I set lap records with every car.

Michael Schumacher said about you, "he has something special". How does that make you feel?

It's very nice! Michael is a unique driver, and it is a real compliment coming from him. I don't know if I have something special, but I know that with a good car and a good team behind me, I am capable of getting good results. I proved it this year in the World Series. To be perfectly honest, when I came up against Michael in the final, I thought I would lose - even if I knew I could make it close. When I was invited to the ROC, I was dreaming of coming up against him. so when I crossed the line in front, I was ecstatic! It was the first, and maybe only, opportunity for me to judge myself against him, so I took the chance and managed to win. I jumped on the roof afterwards to celebrate, and that seemed to go down well with the crowd! Beating Michael was exciting, but I think it was bigger achievement to beat Loeb: I didn't think I had a chance against the World Rally Champion, in a rally car. From my point of view, that was a very strong win.

You are the fastest driver on the planet. That's pretty impressive!

It's a nice way to round off the season! The fact that I was invited to take part in the Race of Champions has brought me to people's attention - the World Series by Nissan did not have much exposure, even though it was a championship at a high level with good racing. I think that having won the Race of Champions will help my popularity more than winning the World Series. But having said that, it won't change my future: the people at Renault have always made good decisions on my behalf. I have been in the Renault Driver Development programme for three years now and I trust them. I am pleased to win this race for them as well.

Can you tell us where you will be driving next year?

I will be in GP2, where I hope to get good results. It's definitely the best championship for me because it will be the final stepping stone to F1. I am very excited about next year! I know there is still a lot for me to learn, but I hope I will be with a good team that will give me a chance to win races and fight for the title.

Crazy stuff, set the fastest lap in each car .

[hyperwhite]

its gonna be on speed next sunday for all those who missed it. and where the hell did this Heikki Kovalainen guy come from????