Heartbreak for team Australia in thrilling Race of Champions final
The Race of Champions final came down to Team Australia Supercars against Team France in Sydney's Accor Stadium.
SYDNEY—It was a grandstand finish for the Race of Champions on Friday night as Supercars drivers Will Brown and Brodie Kostecki took team France to a tie-break final in the Nations Cup, ultimately losing the title to Sébastien Loeb and Victor Martins.
The fans in Accor Stadium were treated to a dramatic finish as Martins narrowly defeated Brown in the tie-break.
Team Australia had gone up 1-0 in the final after Brown defeated Loeb, but Martins sent the duel to a tie-break after finishing ahead of the Brown in the second race.
A wobble for Brown in the final corner guaranteed victory for Martins and Team France.
"Victor did an incredible job," said Loeb.
"He beat all the fast guys on his first time here. Now we win the Nations Cup, it is a really great moment."
The crowd had entered the event curious to how competitive the Australian teams would be but grew louder with every victory, reaching a roar of disappointment as France clinched the title.
"Coming third in Bathurst is one thing but I think coming second here might feel worse!" said Brown.
"There were two places where you can see the other driver, on the start/finish straight and then coming into the final section. I knew it was extremely close at the end, so I had to really give it a crack."
Earlier, Team France had a tense path to the final after Martins had the biggest scare of the night in his quarter final against Louis Sharp of Team New Zealand.
Martins took out the barrier on the inside line of turn one as he began the second lap of his race, losing his race and forcing a nervous wait for the tiebreaker at the end of the round.
Teammate Sébastien Loeb easily defeated Louis Sharp in the tie-break to keep France in the competition.
It was Johan Kristofferson against Heikki Kovalainen who set the scene for the evening, with a narrow finish setting the crowd on edge as Kristofferson won by a car length for the All-Stars.
Then, a roar for the battle between Chaz Moster and adopted Aussie Valtteri Bottas proved the crowd was fully engaged.
The crescendo grew as the races continued, with a sprinkling of rain building anticipation ahead of the finals.
The Race of Champions continues on Saturday with drivers going head-to-head to crown the "Champion of Champions."
Don't mis out! Get your tickets to the Race of Champions Sydney now. Tickets start at $49.
