TELDE, GRAN CANARIA. (November 30)- - The U.S.
team of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Colin Edwards won the Nations Cup
as part of the Michelin Race of Champions in Gran Canaria off the coast of Morocco
on Saturday.
In the opening round of competition, the USA
went head-to-head with Brazil. Colin Edwards (1:56.97 sec) topped Alex Barros
on the moto while Jimmie Johnson (2:02.44) topped rally driver Antonio Pizzonia.
However, the U.S. team failed to sweep the Brazilians as Cristiano da
Matta (2:03.48) defeated Jeff Gordon (2:07.03) on the circuit. In the second
round of Group B, the American team went head-to-head with Spain.
Jeff Gordon (1:53.47) defeated Fernando Alonso, and Colin Edwards (1:56.43)
defeated Carlos Checa, however once again the U.S. team failed to sweep
as Jesus Puras (1:57.60) defeated Jimmie Johnson.
In the semi-finals, the U.S. team went head-to-head with France.
Jeff Gordon (1:53.20) defeated Sebastien Bourdais on the cirucit,
Colin Edwards (1:56.25) defeated Mickael Maschio, but the Americans
were denied a sweep as Sebastien Loeb (1:58.02) defeated Jimmie
Johnson by nine-hundredths of a second. The U.S. team advanced to the
Finals where Gordon (1:53.87) defeated Febrizio Giovanardi by fifteen-hundredths
of a second over the two lap sprint, and
Edwards (1:56.16) defeated Marco Melandri. Though Johnson was defeated
by Renato Travaglia, the U.S. captured the Nations Cup.
In terms of overall lap times, Colin Edwards had the fastest
moto lap on Saturday among the nine countries represented.
Edwards previous experience in ROC cars (2000) paid off as he was undefeated
on Saturday. Jeff Gordon had the fourth fastest lap overall in the circuit portion
and Jimmie Johnson had the seventh quickest time overall in the rally
portion of the event.
Nations Cup Press Release Recap
Thousands of miles from
home, the U.S. team of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Colin Edwards
clinched the fourth Michelin Race of Champions Nations Cup in Gran Canaria
The trio triumphed in the finals over the Italian bike, racing and rally trio of
Marco Melandri, Fabrizio Giovanardi and Renato Travaglia by three heats to
two.
"Admittedly, this is a big surprise but it feels great.
We came here wanting to win, and to have some fun, and we had both.
It's a truly awesome feeling," said Jimmie Johnson.
Four time NASCAR Champion, Jeff Gordon paid tribute to the dominance of
Colin Edwards in the Honda Blackbird powered ROC Cars-
the 2002 Superbike World Champion won every race:
"He was the key player for us. Having been here a couple of years ago,
he had the experience that helped make a difference.
He was just so smooth."
Edwards may have controlled both his heats, and Gordon may have scored a
memorable victory over 2002 European Touring Car Champion,
Giovanardi, but Johnson's six-tenths of a second loss to
Travaglia was the most exhilarating contest.
On their way to the Final, the USA eliminated previous winners
France (2000) in the Semi-Final round and Spain
(2001) in the Opening Group Stages.
After rolling his Peugeot 206 WRC in practice on Friday,
Marcus Gronholm led Finland to victory in Group A over fellow
Scandinavian's Sweden and the UK.
Italy emerged triumphant from Group B wining 5 Heats to 3 over second
placed France, with F1 driver, Nick Heidfeld scoring the only
success for Germany.
Group B was also the scene of the closest race in Nations
Cup history, where Frenchman Sebastian Loeb beat former double
World Rally Champion, Walter Rohrl by just six ten-thousandths of
a second.
Group C witnessed some of the most entertaining clashes with
USA's Gordon spectacularly crossing lanes in his unsuccessful pursuit of
Brazil's Cristiano da Matta.
Although Spain completed a white wash over Brazil to finish joint top with
4 Heat wins, the American triumvirate recorded the fastest collective
time to book their place in the Semis.
Much to the disappointment of the home crowd, 2001 Nations Cup winners,
Spain, failed to clinch the last Semi-Final berth, which is allotted
to the fastest runner-up. Group B's France registered a time of 5mins
47.11secs - over three seconds quicker than Spain.
Semi Final
MotoGP World Champion Melandri's mastery of the Michelin Race Of
Champions unique ROC Cars helped see off Finland - winning three heats to
one. Meanwhile, the second pairing of USA and France provided a much
closer contest with the former emerging victorious in the decisive
fifth heat.
Qualification for Michelin Race of Champions
Automatically qualified for the fifteenth running of the
Michelin Race of Champions are 2002 World Rally Champion, Marcus Gronholm,
Sebastian Loeb and 2001 winner, Harri Rovanpera.
Joining the hugely talented quartet will be wildcard entrant,
Jeff Gordon and the fastest two racers of the day, Fabrizio Giovanardi
and Kenny Brack. 2002 European Rally Champion, Roberto Travaglia qualifies
as the second fastest rally driver, alongside 2002 Spanish Rally Champion,
Jesus Puras, and biker Melandri.
Marcus Gronholm of Finland, the
2002 World Rally Champion, won the Michelin Race of Champions on
Sunday in Gran Canaria. In the quarterfinal round, Gronholm defeated
Jimmie Johnson after the NASCAR star failed to complete his second lap
which allowed Gronholm to advance. Johnson was subbing for Jeff Gordon
who received a wild car entry into the Race of Champions but had to
withdraw due to a bout of food poisoning. In the semifinals, Gronholm
defeated Francois Duval. The final was a three-lap contest pitting Gronholm
against Sebastien Loeb of France. Gronholm defeated Loeb by nine-tenths
of a second to capture the individual honors as the winner of the Michelin
Race of Champions. "It was a really hard battle, but very rewarding,"
Gronholm said. "Loeb did incredibly well, he adapted himself to the Peugeot
206 amazingly fast."
Brack Wins ROC America
Gran Canaria - ROC America Photos:
Nations Cup Photos:
+All of the participating drivers | +JG: head-on
+Colin, Jimmie, and Jeff celebrate | +Jimmie and Jeff congratulate Colin
+"Oh dios mio!" | +Perfection in Gran Canaria
+Air Jimmie | +Jeff on course | +Nations Cup champions
+Friday/Saturday photos from Julio Quintana
+Sunday photos from Julio Quintana
Group Stages
Michelin Race of Champions (Sunday)
TELDE, GRAN CANARIA. (November 30)- - As a prelude to
the weekend's events in Gran Canaria, a special U.S. motorsport challenge
(Race of Champions America) was held on Friday, November 29. In the two-lap final on the
2.6 km course, Kenny Brack edged Jeff Gordon to take the top honors.
The event pitted U.S. open-wheel stars Brack and Christiano da Matta
against stock car aces Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in ROC cars.
Brack's winning lap time was 1:56.45-- the fastest lap of the competition.
In the final race, Gordon initially charged into the lead only to crash
heavily into a barrier in the late stages. "The first lap was my best
of the day, but I really messed up at the end. Even so it was great fun," Gordon
said. To advance to the final, Gordon took on his NASCAR counterpart Johnson.
Gordon took the checkered flag by a mere sixteen-hundredths of a second
ahead of Johnson. "I'm gonna be proud of that moment for a very long time,"
Gordon said after the match race. Later in the day, Gordon took a few
laps around the course with rally-sprint
ace Marcus Gronholm. The duo put on a show and
wound up flipping several times on the course.
+Gordon, Brack, y las senoritas | +Dirt trackin'
+Jeff gets ready for the event | +Jeff crashes in the ROC America final
+Gronholm and Gordon's wild ride | +End result
+"I think we killed the car"
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