Motorsports
After Monte Carlo, Leb also won the Champions League
In the duel between the two “Sebs” in the final of this year’s Race of Champions, Sebastian Leb won against Sebastian Vettel – while father and son Solberg won the national team title for Norway.
Within a month, Sebastian Leb was second in the Dakar Rally, won the Ford Puma Rally1 at the WRC in Monte Carlo and became the sport’s oldest winner with his 80th triumph and now his fourth career win in the Champions League on the ROC’s first visit Sweden.
Leb beat his Dakar opponent Matthias Extrom (who raced with Audi in Saudi Arabia) in the semifinals, while Vettel overcame his ‘obstacle’ of Tom Christensen from Le Mans in his own semifinal. The fight between the two “Seb” was rated as marginal in their quadruple match in the final – which would be judged by the three wins.
In the first of their three encounters with the Polaris RZR buggy, Leb won by taking advantage of a small contact Vettel had with the first turn wall. In the second, the French made it 2-0 and overtook the initially small lead of the German, but in the third Vettel reduced the lead to 2-1 after a mistake made this time by Leb with the RX2e electric cross car.
Her fourth and final race at the Pitea circuit on the Baltic Sea was again contested with the Polaris and the nine-time WRC World Champion won by a margin of eight tenths of a second. Lemb thus shares the record of 4 wins in the ROC with his compatriot and also former WRC champion Didier Oriol.
At this year’s Champions Race, in which a total of 18 top drivers in world motorsport took part, victory between the national teams for Norway was achieved by the 2033 WRC champion Peter Solmberg together with his son, the factory driver Hyundai in Paverg.
In the finale they met an unexpected crew with little ice racing experience – the American team consisting of NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson and IndyCars driver Colton Hertha.
In the first match with the Polaris Pro XP, Peter Solmberg took the win ahead of Johnson (who had minor mechanical issues) and Oliver from Hertha. In the second battle with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, NASCAR legend defeated Olver Solberg, but a mistake by Hertha ultimately gave father Solberg victory and the title in Norway.
“It was a very big dream that Oliver and I realizedsaid Peter Solmberg at the end, claiming his driving was inspired by Leb’s victory in the Monte Carlo Rally ten days ago.
The Norwegians beat hosts Sweden in the quarterfinals and the Scandinavian team in the semifinals, while the Americans unexpectedly defeated Germany and Finland.
Johnson had won the Champions League in singles in 2002 but had no experience on the ice and for Hertha – the youngest 24-hour winner of the Daytona LMP2 – it was an unprecedented experience.
Within a month, Sebastian Leb was second in the Dakar Rally, won the Ford Puma Rally1 at the WRC in Monte Carlo and became the sport’s oldest winner with his 80th triumph and now his fourth career win in the Champions League on the ROC’s first visit Sweden.
Leb beat his Dakar rival Matthias Extrom (who raced with Audi in Saudi Arabia) in the semi-finals, while Vettel overcame his ‘obstacle’ set by Tom Christensen from Le Mans in his own semi-final. The fight between the two “Seb” was rated as marginal in their quadruple match in the final – which would be judged by the three wins.
In the first of their three encounters with the Polaris RZR buggy, Leb won by taking advantage of a small contact Vettel had with the first turn wall. In the second, the French made it 2-0 and overtook the initially small lead of the German, but in the third Vettel reduced the lead to 2-1 after a mistake made this time by Leb with the RX2e electric cross car.
Their fourth and final race at the Pitea circuit on the Baltic coast was again contested with Polaris and found the nine-time WRC World Champion winner by a margin of 8 tenths of a second. Lemb thus shares the record of 4 wins in the ROC with his compatriot and also former WRC champion Didier Oriol.
At this year’s Champions Race, in which a total of 18 top drivers in world motorsport took part, victory between the national teams for Norway was achieved by the 2033 WRC champion Peter Solmberg together with his son, the factory driver Hyundai in Paverg.
In the finale they met an unexpected crew with little ice racing experience – the American team consisting of NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson and IndyCars driver Colton Hertha.
In the first match with the Polaris Pro XP, Peter Solmberg took the win ahead of Johnson (who had minor mechanical issues) and Oliver from Hertha. In the second battle with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, NASCAR legend defeated Olver Solberg, but a mistake by Hertha ultimately gave father Solberg victory and the title in Norway.
“It was a very big dream that Oliver and I realizedsaid Peter Solmberg at the end, claiming his driving was inspired by Leb’s victory in the Monte Carlo Rally ten days ago.
The Norwegians beat hosts Sweden in the quarterfinals and the Scandinavian team in the semifinals, while the Americans unexpectedly defeated Germany and Finland. Johnson had won the Champions League in singles in 2002 but had no experience on the ice and for Hertha – the youngest 24-hour winner of the Daytona LMP2 – it was an unprecedented experience.
Photos from the Race of Champions:
Jessica Martinez is an author at Sportish, a publication dedicated to sports news and analysis. She covers various topics related to sports and provides insightful commentary on the latest developments in the world of sports.