Mattias Ekstrom stunned Sebastien Loeb and the 60,000-strong crowd at the Stade de France as he took a brilliant victory in the Race of Champions.
The 28-year-old Swede, who had previously put out Heikki Kovalainen and Sebastien Bourdais in previous rounds, did the unthinkable by beating home favourite Loeb in a Citroen Xsara like the one the Frenchman won this year’s world rally title in.
The 2003 DTM champion and occasional WRC competitor then rounded out a more routine victory as the pair faced off in Renault Trophy Meganes to complete his 2-0 victory.
Ekstrom said: “That was more than cool. I just thought it would be flat-out, but I knew it would be so tough to beat Seb in his own car. If you ask anybody, they would say it’s not possible.
“I messed up the start and I think that got the adrenaline pumping. It’s just a great feeling to beat Seb.”
Loeb, who had previuosly won the event in 2003 and 2005, was gracious in defeat.
He said: “Mattias has done a great race, he’s a good ride on track iand in rally. He was just faster.”
Ekstrom’s win was the first for a Swedish driver on the event since rally legend Stig Blomqvist trimuphed in 1990.
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