Guerra Wins on Home Turf at ROC Mexico
Mexican rally driver Benito Guerra won the 2019 Race of Champions on home soil this weekend, beating a number of top drivers on his way to the big trophy at the custom-made stadium at Autódromo Hermano Rodríguez.
Home ground advantage seemed significant at this year’s event, as three Mexicans made it through to the semi-finals in Sunday’s solo races. Having had only entered the ROC once before in 2012, Guerra knocked out Formula One drivers Pierre Gasly and Sebastian Vettel as well as former F1 driver Esteban Gutierrez and 2018 IndyLights champion Patricio O’Ward.
David Coulthard, who had won last year’s ROC, had little to write home about this time around, as he failed to win even a single race. He was knocked out of the group stages by O’Ward and Tom Kristensen, nine-time Le Mans winner and one of the event’s most seasoned veterans.
Kristensen and Johan Kristoffersson represented Team Nordic on Saturday and defeated Team Germany for the Nation’s Cup, though it was the runners-up who stole the spotlight throughout the day.
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Vettel had teamed up with Mick Schumacher to represent their country. Mick is the son of Michael Schumacher and a rising talent in the junior formula series. Before Michael’s accident, Vettel and the seven-time F1 champion had won six consecutive Nation’s Cups at the ROC.
Mick had looked like an early contender for the individual victory after taking out Vettel in the group stages, but he lost out to Gutierrez in the quarter-finals.
It should be remembered that no one should look too keenly into ROC results as an indicator of actual skill, as the annual event is largely about entertainment, bringing some of the world’s best drivers from different categories for some good-natured fun in interesting cars.
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