DECEMBER 5, 2004

Loeb and Alesi take Nations Cup

Sebastien Loeb and Jean Alesi gave France the Nations Cup at the Race of Champions event in Paris, beating the Finnish team of Heikki Kovalainen and Marcus Gronholm in the final showdown in front of a crowd of 62,300 at Paris's Stade de France. Kovalainen beat Alesi in his first two races with Alesi but Loeb twice beat Gronholm to event the score leaving the showdown between Alesi and Kovalainen unfortunately the Finn's Ferrari 360 developed mechanical problems and the two Frenchmen swept to victory, leaving both Alesi and Loeb to admit that they had been a little lucky.

The French team made it to the final by defeating Playstation France, Brazil, while Finland beat Sweden and then the UK.