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 enthrall 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 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 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 racers. 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 – the current World Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx from the race.
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.