2002 Race of Champions explained

The 2002 Race of Champions took place on November 29 to December 1 at Gran Canaria. It was the 15th running of the event, and the 11th at Gran Canaria.

The vehicles used were the Peugeot 206 WRC, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI Group N, the SEAT Córdoba WRC and the ROC Buggy.

The individual competition was won by Marcus Grönholm, whilst the Nations' Cup was won by USA with Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Colin Edwards.

Participants

CountryRacing DriverRally DriverMotorcycle Racer
France Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Loeb Mickaël Maschio
United States Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson Colin Edwards
Great Britain James Thompson Robbie Head James Haydon
Finland JJ Lehto Marcus Grönholm Kari Tiainen
Spain Fernando Alonso Jesús Puras Carlos Checa
Sweden Kenny Brack Thomas Rådström Tony Rickardsson
Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi Renato Travaglia Marco Melandri
Germany Nick Heidfeld Walter Röhrl Pit Beirer
Brazil Cristiano da Matta Antônio Pizzonia Alex Barros

Junior Rally Masters

Group stage

DriverRacesWinsLossesBest Time
François Duval3302:12.00
Francisco Suárez3212:17.47
Dani Solà3122:17.54
Niall McShea3032:18.09
Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
François Duval2:15.37 Dani Solà2:19.26
Francisco Suárez2:19.89 Niall McShea2:22.01
Niall McShea2:19.76 François Duval2:14.01
Dani Solà2:19.58 Francisco Suárez2:17.47
Francisco Suárez2:15.41 François Duval2:12.00
Dani Solà2:17.54 Niall McShea2:18.09

Final

Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
François Duval2:10.92 Francisco Suárez2:13.52
François Duval2:00.99 Francisco Suárez2:05.28

Nations' Cup

Group stage

Group A

Pos.TeamRacesWinsLossesTotal TimeDriverWinsLossesBest Time
1 Finland6425:54.06 Marcus Grönholm201:57.55
JJ Lehto021:55.91
Kari Tiainen202:00.60
2 Sweden6425:56.11 Thomas Rådström111:58.02
Kenny Brack201:52.96
Tony Rickardsson112:05.13
3 UK6156:01.47 Robbie Head021:58.93
James Thompson111:54.45
James Haydon022:08.09
Team 1Time 1ScoreTeam 2Time 2
UK1–2 Finland
James Haydon2:08.09Kari Tiainen2:03.86
James Thompson1:56.80JJ Lehto1:57.34
Robbie Head2:03.07Marcus Grönholm1:59.69
Finland2–1 Sweden
Kari Tiainen2:00.60Tony Rickardsson2:05.13
JJ Lehto1:55.91Kenny Brack1:54.51
Marcus Grönholm1:57.55Thomas Rådström2:00.06
Sweden3–0 UK
Tony Rickardsson2:06.49James HaydonDNF
Kenny Brack1:52.96James Thompson1:54.45
Thomas Rådström1:58.02Robbie Head1:58.93

Group B

Pos.TeamRacesWinsLossesTotal TimeDriverWinsLossesBest Time
1 Italy6515:46.71 Renato Travaglia111:56.80
Fabrizio Giovanardi201:52.67
Marco Melandri201:57.24
2 France6335:47.11 Sébastien Loeb201:55.95
Sébastien Bourdais021:53.54
Mickaël Maschio111:57.62
3 Germany6155:55.80 Walter Röhrl021:56.89
Nick Heidfeld111:53.44
Pit Beirer022:05.47
Team 1Time 1ScoreTeam 2Time 2
Italy3–0
Marco Melandri2:00.46Pit Beirer2:05.47
Fabrizio Giovanardi1:53.40Nick Heidfeld1:55.41
Renato Travaglia1:57.44Walter Röhrl2:14.35
1–2 France
Pit Beirer2:07.68Mickaël Maschio1:59.29
Nick Heidfeld1:53.44Sébastien Bourdais1:53.60
Walter Röhrl1:56.89Sébastien Loeb1:56.41
1–2 Italy
Mickaël Maschio1:57.62Marco Melandri1:57.24
Sébastien Bourdais1:53.54Fabrizio Giovanardi1:52.67
Sébastien Loeb1:55.95Renato Travaglia1:56.80

Group C

Pos.TeamRacesWinsLossesTotal TimeDriverWinsLossesBest Time
1 USA6425:48.42 Jimmie Johnson111:58.52
Jeff Gordon111:53.44
Colin Edwards201:56.43
2 Spain6425:50.61 Jesús Puras201:57.60
Fernando Alonso121:53.84
Carlos Checa111:59.17
3 Brazil6155:59.08 Antônio Pizzonia022:02.53
Cristiano da Matta111:58.26
Alex Barros021:58.29
Team 1Time 1ScoreTeam 2Time 2
USA2–1 Brazil
Colin Edwards1:56.97Alex Barros1:58.29
Jeff Gordon2:07.03Cristiano da Matta2:03.48
Jimmie Johnson2:02.44Antônio Pizzonia2:04.36
Brazil0–3 Spain
Alex Barros1:59.42Carlos Checa1:59.27
Cristiano da Matta1:58.26Fernando Alonso1:54.07
Antônio Pizzonia2:02.53Jesús Puras1:58.81
1–2 USA
Carlos Checa1:59.17Colin Edwards1:56.43
Fernando Alonso1:53.84Jeff Gordon1:53.47
Jesús Puras1:57.60Jimmie Johnson1:58.52

Best Times

Pos.RallyRacingMotorcycle
DriverBest TimeDriverBest TimeDriverBest Time
1 Sébastien Loeb1:55.95 Fabrizio Giovanardi1:52.67 Colin Edwards1:56.43
2 Renato Travaglia1:56.80 Kenny Brack1:52.96 Marco Melandri1:57.24
3 Walter Röhrl1:56.89 Nick Heidfeld1:53.44 Mickaël Maschio1:57.62
4 Marcus Grönholm1:57.55 Jeff Gordon1:53.44 Alex Barros1:58.29
5 Jesús Puras1:57.60 Sébastien Bourdais1:53.54 Carlos Checa1:59.17
6 Thomas Rådström1:58.02 Fernando Alonso1:53.84 Kari Tiainen2:00.60
7 Jimmie Johnson1:58.52 James Thompson1:54.45 Tony Rickardsson2:05.13
8 Robbie Head1:58.93 JJ Lehto1:55.91 Pit Beirer2:05.47
9 Antônio Pizzonia2:02.53 Cristiano da Matta1:58.26 James Haydon2:08.09

Knockout stage

Semifinals

Team 1Time 1ScoreTeam 2Time 2
Finland1–3 Italy
Kari Tiainen2:01.71Marco Melandri1:57.85
JJ Lehto1:56.60Fabrizio Giovanardi1:55.27
Marcus Grönholm1:58.58Renato Travaglia2:00.50
Kari Tiainen1:59.99Marco Melandri1:56.91
USA3–2
Colin Edwards1:57.67Mickaël Maschio1:58.84
Jeff Gordon2:04.94 (penalty)Sébastien Bourdais1:54.27
Jimmie Johnson1:58.11Sébastien Loeb1:58.02
Colin Edwards1:56.25Mickaël MaschioDNF
Jeff Gordon1:53.20Sébastien Bourdais1:56.47

Final

Team 1Time 1ScoreTeam 2Time 2
Italy1–3 USA
Marco Melandri1:57.25Colin Edwards1:56.16
Fabrizio Giovanardi1:54.02Jeff Gordon1:53.87
Renato Travaglia1:54.01Jimmie Johnson1:54.67
Marco Melandri3:04.83Colin Edwards2:12.99

Race of Champions

Participation in the main Race of Champions was awarded primarily on the basis of having the best times in the Nations' Cup. There were several exceptions to this rule however – Harri Rovanperä, as the defending champion, was guaranteed a spot, whilst Colin Edwards, despite having the best time among motorcyclists in the Nations' Cup, did not participate. François Duval secured his place by winning the Junior event, Luis Monzón won the Spanish Masters event, and Stig Blomqvist was an invited 'seeded' driver. Jimmie Johnson received a 'wild-card' entry, replacing Nations' Cup teammate Jeff Gordon who was sidelined by food poisoning.[1]

Group stage

Group A

DriverRacesWinsLossesBest Time
François Duval3211:54.15
Luis Monzón3211:55.80
Stig Blomqvist3121:55.23
Jesús Puras3121:57.27
Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
Jesús Puras1:57.27 Stig Blomqvist1:58.06
Jesús Puras1:57.62 François Duval1:55.20
Jesús Puras1:56.74 Luis Monzón1:55.80
François Duval1:54.60 Stig Blomqvist1:55.44
Stig Blomqvist1:55.23 Luis MonzónDNF
François Duval2:04.15 (penalty) Luis Monzón1:56.95

Group B

DriverRacesWinsLossesBest Time
Kenny Brack3301:54.92
Marco Melandri3211:53.74
Renato Travaglia3121:58.96
Fabrizio Giovanardi3031:54.50
Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
Fabrizio Giovanardi1:58.98 Renato Travaglia1:58.96
Kenny Brack1:55.44 Renato Travaglia1:56.61
Renato Travaglia1:56.62 Marco Melandri1:55.17
Fabrizio Giovanardi1:55.55 Kenny Brack1:54.92
Fabrizio Giovanardi1:54.50 Marco Melandri1:53.74
Marco MelandriWithdrew Kenny BrackBye

Knockout stage

Quarterfinals

Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
Marcus Grönholm1:57.71 Jimmie Johnson1:57.94
Marcus Grönholm1:53.29 Jimmie JohnsonDNF
Marco MelandriDNF François Duval2:02.30
Marco Melandri3:18.78 François Duval2:26.20
Sébastien Loeb1:57.85 Luis Monzón2:00.49
Sébastien Loeb1:57.87 Luis Monzón1:58.87
Harri Rovanperä1:58.28 Kenny Brack1:58.88
Harri Rovanperä1:54.46 Kenny Brack1:53.98
Harri Rovanperä1:54.32 Kenny Brack2:40.90

Semifinals

Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
Marcus Grönholm1:59.32 François Duval2:25.41
Marcus Grönholm1:52.65 François DuvalDNF
Sébastien Loeb1:57.19 Harri Rovanperä1:57.88
Sébastien Loeb1:53.81 Harri Rovanperä1:54.81

Final

Driver 1Time 1Driver 2Time 2
Marcus Grönholm1:53.07 Sébastien Loeb1:53.15
Marcus Grönholm1:52.05 Sébastien Loeb1:51.54
Marcus Grönholm1:51.87 Sébastien Loeb1:52.74

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: USA wins the Nations Cup. 17 December 2012.

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