Sunday, December 14, 2014

David Coulthard Goes Undefeated to Take 2014 Race of Champions

After finishing runner-up with Susie Wolff in the Nations Cup on Saturday, David Coulthard went a perfect 7-0 on Sunday to take Race of Champions, defeating the youngest winner in the history of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters and Mercedes F1 reserve driver Pascal Wehrlein in the final.

Coulthard swept his group which featured V8 Supercars champion Jamie Whincup, defending Race of Champions winner Romain Grosjean and five-time MotoGP world champion Mick Doohan. Whincup joined Coulthard as those who advanced from Group A. The Scot defeated Group B runner-up Petter Solberg in the quarterfinals before having to face Whincup again in the semifinals.

Whincup defeated Group B winner Kurt Busch in the quarterfinals. All three Americans, Busch, Robby Gordon and Ryan Hunter-Reay went undefeated in the group stage only for all three to be eliminated in the quarterfinals. Wehrlein knocked off Gordon while FIA European Formula Three champion and Lotus F1 reserve driver Esteban Ocon defeated Hunter-Reay. Wehrlein handily defeated Ocon in the second semifinal.

Coulthard won race one in the KTM X-Bow despite tapping the barrier. The 20-year old Wehrlein gave Coulthard a run for his money in the second race in the Ariel Atom Cups but the German drop his right side tires off course entering the final corner, as Coulthard cruised to victory.

Those who failed to make it to the knockout round were Barbados' Rhett Watson and Williams F1 reserve driver Susie Wolff with Watson getting a victory while Wolff was held without a victory. WTCC champion José María López and Jamaica's Doug Gore failed to advance from Group C with the Argentine's lone victory coming against Gore. Tom Kristensen failed to make it out of Group D despite winning the Nations Cup with Petter Solberg for Team Nordic on Saturday. GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer went winless in Group D with his day ending after putting a Stadium Super Truck into the barrier. The Brit walked away from the accident.

Coulthard is the second Brit and second Scotsman to win the Race of Champion, joining the late Colin McRae, who won the 1998 edition after defeating his brother Alister in the final. The United Kingdom joins France and Finland as the only nations to produce multiple Race of Champions winners. Wehrlein is the fourth different German to finish runner-up in the Race of Champions joining Walter Röhrl, Armin Schwartz and Michael Schumacher with Schumacher finishing runner-up on two occasions. A German has never won the Race of Champions.

Coulthard wins the Race of Champions despite being retired from full-time competition for two years. He last competed in the DTM in 2012. The Scotsman went 13-1 over the entire weekend. The lone lost was to Kristensen in the Nations Cup deciding race.