Mattias Ekstrom of Sweden beat three-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb of France to win the Race of Champions at Stade de France on Saturday. Loeb raced for the first time since breaking his arm in September and reached the final for the third straight year. He won last year and lost to Finland’s Heikki Kovalainen in 2004. Ekstrom downed Citroen driver Loeb 2-0 in a best-of-three legs final after overcoming Formula One’s Heikki Kovalainen and three-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais in earlier heats. The Race of Champions, a yearly event since 1988, features 16 drivers from various motor racing disciplines. It was held on a custom-built 0.7-mile figure-of-eight asphalt track with a crossover bridge.(ESPN.com/AP)
AND NASCAR Jimmie Johnson was scheduled to run for Team USA but. Johnson broke his left wrist last week while participating in a charity golf tournament in Florida. Formula One driver Scott Speed injured his left wrist Thursday in a testing accident at Jerez, Spain and had to withdraw. It was too late to find another dirver so X-Games star Travis Pastrana was forced into one-man duty for Team USA and finished. Kovalainen and Gronholm defeated North American Rally champion Travis Pastrana in the final of the nations cup.(12-19-2006)
