Mattias Ekstrom joined Didier Auriol and Sebastien Loeb as a four-time winner of the Race of Champions, the local hero defeating in Sunday’s final in Pite Havsbad in Sweden worthy challenger Mick Schumacher.
Ekstrom enjoyed a dominant 2-0 victory against the Mercedes F1 reserve driver, but Schumacher – whose father Michael Schumacher was defeated twice by the Swede in the ROC, in 2007 and 2009 – acquitted himself well on the icy track.
Ekstrom reached the final by dispatching Extreme E charger Johan Kristofferson and WRC winner Thierry Neuville, the former DTM champion surviving a fiery second heat when smoke was seen billowing from the central console of his car.
©ROC
Schumacher’s run to the final began with a compelling win over fellow F1 reserve Felipe Drugovich which set up an all-German semi-heat against the former Haas charger’s mentor and good friend Sebastian Vettel.
The four-time world champion hoped to gain access to the final for a second year running, but his Schumacher had the last word.
In the earlier rounds, flying Finns Mika Hakkinen and Valtteri Bottas failed to take off, with both drivers eliminated at the outset just as they had been on Saturday in the Nations Cup, at the hands of Drugovic and Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen respectively.
Great-Britain’s representatives Jamie Chadwick and David Coulthard failed to survive the quarter finals, the Williams development driver suffering a defat against Vettel while the Scot was knocked out by France’s Adrien Tambay.
After winning two ROC finals against Michael Schumacher in the past, an emotional @mattiasekstroem says facing @SchumacherMick today was extra special. 🙏🙏#ROCSweden pic.twitter.com/8zZqbLOJML
— #ROCSweden (@RaceOfChampions) January 29, 2023
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