The 2007 Race of Champions Winner (ROC) is Mattias Ekstrom who defeated Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher. There were three rounds in the finale and after each of them won one of the rounds, the third one produced the champion.
Audi Press Release:
Mattias Ekström wins “Race of Champions”
DTM champion beats Michael Schumacher in finale
Audi factory driver’s second consecutive win
Audi A4 DTM and Audi R10 TDI thrill 50,000 fans
Mattias Ekström has made one of his biggest
dreams come true: In the final round of the "Race of Champions" the Audi driver defeated the seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, triumphing for the second time in a row at the motorsport spectacle that was staged in front of over 50,000 spectators at London’s Wembley Stadium for the first time this year. Also part of the action were stars like David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Heikki Kovalainen, Sébastien Bourdais, Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg.
"For me, Michael Schumacher is one of the world’s greatest drivers. To beat him in the same
equipment is an incredible experience I won’t forget for a long time," said the elated 29-year-old Swede after the nail-biting finale. After Ekström and Schumacher had each won a round, the third heat had to produce the decision. As at the DTM finale two months earlier, Ekström kept his cool in front of the impressive backdrop of the stadium and did not give his role model Michael Schumacher the slightest chance. Before that, he had eliminated – among others – Britain's World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx.
The performance of Ekström and his Audi team colleague Tom Kristensen in the Nations Cup on
the other hand was merely brief. As early as in the first round "Team Scandinavia" had to admit defeat to the Finnish pairing. "Congratulations to Mattias on his victory, he definitely had a strong day. Too bad we weren’t able to top it once more in our joint stint," said the seven-time Le Mans winner as a fair team player.
Audi used the occasion to show off its quattro rallycar, 2007 DTM championship winning A4 DTM and the diesel-engined R10 TDI sports-prototype that has won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the last two years.
2007 Race of Champions Winner Video:
