Motorsport News: Russ Bonds Weekly Report

Jeff Gordon Puts on a Good Show in Paris

Twenty two of the best racing drivers on the planet converged on the Stade de France for the 18th running of the Race of Champions. They are the best of the best, including World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, and four time NASCAR champ Jeff Gordon. In total, 18 drivers were invited to compete in the Nations Cup and the Champion of Champions race. The other four were FBMW Junior drivers racing in a separate division.�

Of those four the name Robert Wickens is one you want to remember, as it is not the last time you will hear from the up and coming racer. You see, Wickens, a Canadian, first defeated the Asian Formula BMW champion, and then in the final, bested the German Formula BMW champion on his way to victory. Wickens stopped on top of the bridge to savor the moment.

"It was crazy," Wickens said. "All the fans there were going nuts. They were

Wickens stopped on top of the bridge to savor the moment. (Photo: Stade de France? - Macary, Zublena et Regembal, Costantini - Architectes, ADAGP - Paris - 2004)

cheering. I just had to stop and listen to them."

At 16, Wickens has an incredible future ahead of him, and he is living proof that hard work - not money - will get you somewhere in motorsports.

Wickens main support comes from Cameron Motorsports. Bob Cameron and Danielle Duffy were behind getting Wickens into cars in the first place. They sponsored Robbie into the Apex USA Racing Team in 2005. With Apex, he finished third in the FBMW USA championship, and that got him the invite to Paris.

Wickens also races for the cameronmotorsports.com karting team, and he took the title in the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting

Wickens has a habit of making the most of any opportunity. (Photo: Stade de France? - Macary, Zublena et Regembal, Costantini - Architectes, ADAGP - Paris - 2004)

Championship in the headline Formula Senior class in 2005. "Robbie is our lead driver," says Bob Cameron. "All of us here at Cameron Motorsports are very happy for Robbie. This is a fantastic win for him. I am sure he will do equally well at Bahrain in a few weeks."

Wickens has a habit of making the most of any opportunity. Apex Racing was new to the FBMW series in 2005, and Wickens brought them their first win at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal, Quebec, and then won again at Denver. Now he is off to Bahrain for the Formula BMW World Finals, and hes going with the top outfit in North America, Team Autotecnica, which won the 2005 Formula BMW series with driver Richard Philippe.

"The Paris win was very exciting," Wickens said. "Racing in a stadium was really cool,

WRC driver Sebastien Loeb was crowned Champion of Champions when he beat seven-times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen for the title. (Photo: Stade de France? - Macary, Zublena et Regembal, Costantini - Architectes, ADAGP - Paris - 2004)

especially going over the bridge. I never thought I would get air in a FBMW, but I did. I now have a lot of confidence heading into the World Finals, and hopefully I will have a good race there."

In the main event, WRC driver Sebastien Loeb was crowned Champion of Champions when he beat seven-times Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen for the title. The only blemish on the Champion of Champions portion of the event was when NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon couldnt talk his Renault Megane going in gear at the start line. Gordon never moved, while Kristensen took off and did a complete lap. But as the track is one big two lap loop, he came up behind Gordon, who was still sitting there.

Officials should have stopped the race, and allowed Gordon a restart. This was not only my opinion, but about 70,000 others agreed with me as they roundly whistled (European for booing) as Kristensen circled slowly to complete the distance.

Jacques Villeneuve will have at least one more year in Formula 1. (Photo: BMW Sauber)

As he was a lap and a half in, Gordons Megane - with the aid of Renault Sport Engineers - came to life and he did his final laps with no hope of catching Kristensen.

It couldnt be the ongoing war of words in the political world between France and the USA? No, that would never have entered into it... right? Gordon was clearly the fastest, setting the fastest times in each car. He would have given Loeb a run for his money in the final; and friends... we cant have an American taxi cab driver whooping up on a French World Rally Champion on a rainy day in Paris.

Team Scandinavia, consisting of Kristensen and Mattias Ekstrom won the Race of Nations part of the event.

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