Montoya and Vettel star at the Race of Champions
Juan Pablo Montoya and Sebastian Vettel shared the honours at the Race of Champions in Miami last weekend, with the Ferrari F1 star winning the Nations Cup single-handed after team-mate Pascal Wehrlein was ruled out after an airborne crash.
Vettel was forced to drive solo for Sunday’s Nations Cup race after Wehrlein flipped his three-wheeled Polaris Slingshot during a heat against Felipe Massa on Saturday.
Wehrlein clipped a Tecpro barrier heading toward the finish before swerving into Massa’s car and flipping. Both Wehrlein and his passenger escaped serious injury, although Wehrlein was advised not to drive on Sunday as a precaution.
“It was a shock,” said Wehrlein of the accident. “I hit the barrier and that launched me into Felipe. I probably looked too much at Felipe, which is why I hit the barrier in the first place. The speed was not too fast and the most important thing is that we are both OK.”
Montoya won on Saturday, defeating Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen in the final to take the solo honours.
EX-F1 driver Montoya edged Kristensen in the final run in Global Rallycross Superlights and KTM X-bows to take his first win at the event.
Wehrlein’s withdrawal meant that reigning ROC winner Vettel, who had failed to make it out of his group on Saturday, had to drive solo on Sunday. The German won all four of his heats before beating Montoya and Colombian team-mate Gabby Chaves in the semis to book his spot in the final.
Vettel came up against USA Team NASCAR, comprised of brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch. Vettel beat Kurt by 1.12s in the first run in Ariel Atoms, before sealing the win by 0.44s against Kyle in the RX Supercar Lights.
It marked Germany’s seventh ROC victory, with Vettel involved in every one. He’d previously won the crown for six successive events alongside Michael Schumacher from 2007-2012.