Photo: Race of Champions

Touring car stars in action at 2015 Race of Champions

The touring car contingent at the 2015 Race of Champions were unable to match the success of Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx in Team England 1 in Friday’s Nations Cup.

None of the four current touring car drivers competing were able to make it past the quarter final stages of the competition, with World Touring Car champion José María López the first to fall, losing to 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay 2-0 in the first round. Former BTCC race winner and DTM driver, “Mr Le Mans” Tom Kristensen made it all the way to the final, losing 2-0 to 4-time Formula 1 champion Sebastian Vettel.

The first round also saw an all-touring car bout as three time World champion Andy Priaulx took on current DTM champion Pascal Wehrlein in the Euro NASCAR machines. Wehrlein took the first race, ending Priaulx’s 100% win record from the previous evening, before the Mercedes driver went straight into the wall, levelling the score and damaging his car in the process.

After a slight delay, the pair came out for their decider, with Priaulx taking the win and advancing to the Last 16 to face Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Two-time BTCC champion Jason Plato and Priaulx were the only two current drivers to wave the touring car flag in the Last 16, with Plato advancing after beating Formula 1’s Romain Grosjean 2-0 in Ariel Atoms. Priaulx was equally successful against Ryan Hunter-Reay, winning 2-0 in Radicals.

With the first half of the quarter finals forming an all-F1 bracket, Plato was drawn against Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, who has competed in the BTCC and DTM, in a pair of bespoke Race of Champions Buggies, while Priaulx was given a quarter final against Blancpain Endurance champion and V8 Supercars co-driver Alex Buncombe in two Mercedes AMG GT S.

A jump start from Plato handed Kristensen an early lead, forcing Plato to take victory in race two to keep his hopes alive. Despite leading at the halfway stage, Kristensen put in a stellar final lap and knocked Plato out of the competition.

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“I have no excuse,” said Plato of his jump start. “I just wanted to find the bite point of the clutch and it bit me, I think I’ve run out of strength in my left leg. I thought I got back in the second one, but Tom’s a legend of our sport.

“Yes it’s about trying to win but it’s just a privilege to be part of this and to share a few stories and have a few beers with these great drivers. Me and Andy had a fantastic day yesterday and I’ve had a great day today, thanks to everyone at Race of Champions.”

A slightly slow start from Priaulx in his first leg against Buncombe gave the Blancpain driver the advantage at the finish line. A win in leg two after a big slide from Buncombe set up a tie-breaker, but Priaulx could not get the better of his fellow Brit, with Buncombe going through to the semi-final against Kristensen.

“Today’s been tough,” offered Priaulx. “There’s been a lot of unknowns going into these races. You’ve got to push hard, you can’t leave anything on the table. These guys have got to try really hard, I saw that last race with Seb [Vettel, four-time Formula 1 World Champion] and Tom, and you could see Seb was really squeezing it.

“It doesn’t look mega quick but when you’re in the car it certainly feels quick. This has been fantastic with the guys here. Yesterday to win the Nations Cup meant a lot to me, it’s a great honour to come here in the Olympic Stadium and drive with these amazing drivers.”

Kristensen won his semi-final against Buncombe, going on to face Sebastian Vettel in the final. Vettel took the first leg, before a mechanical issues caused a lengthy delay before leg two, ramping the tension up to the max. Kristensen then threw his hopes away as he crashed into the barriers and handed the Champion of Champions trophy to the German.