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DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom took his third Race of Champions triumph after beating Michael Schumacher in a dramatic finale to the ROC week in Beijing, with Schumacher falling just short of the ROC title for another year.

Ekstrom comfortably triumphed in the best-of-three final in the Bird's Nest Stadium, beating Schumacher 2-0 in the heats to complete an unbeaten day in the stadium. Schumacher had looked serene in his progress to the final, beating his compatriot Sebastian Vettel in the semi finals, but in the end had no answer to Ekstrom's pace.

The Swedish two-time DTM champion adds the 2009 crown to his Race of Champions wins in 2006 and 2007, to match Sebastien Loeb in the all-time winners list on three, and put him just one behind Didier Auriol at the top of the list.

Ekstrom move through his group without dropping a heat victory, or indeed without breaking much sweat, sweeping aside Andy Priaulx, Mick Doohan and US X-racer Travis Pastrana to set up a quarter final matchup withfellow Scandinavian Tom Kristensen, who managed to produce the only real shock of the group stages by ousting US drifter Tanner Foust from Group A. Dispensing with Kristensen fairly easily, Ekstrom then breezed past the new F1 champion Jenson Button in the semi-final to set up his clash with Schumacher.

Schumacher's progress was just as serene, with the seven-time F1 champion making light work of the supposed "group of death", beating David Coulthard in a close-faught battle before blitzing Marcus Gronholm and Yvan Muller. He then dispensed with WRC ace Mikko Hirvonen in the quarter finals before facing off against fellow German Vettel in the semi-finals.

His one-off fight with Vettel was probably the highlight of the day, both Germans, who had won the Nations Cup together yesterday, pushing to the limit to try and secure bragging rights. They crossed the line neck-and-neck after half of their race, but then Vettel lost control of his KTM XBow and crashed into the barriers, leaving Schumacher free to coast to the final.

Elsewhere, Jenson Button couldn't beat Ekstrom in the semi-finals, but the 2009 F1 champion cruised through his group and saw off his compatriot Andy Priaulx in the quarter finals after the former touring car champion stalled on the line.

But in the end, nothing that any of the F1 crowd could do came close to Ekstrom, who lifted the Henri Toivonen Trophy after once again proving himself to be the Champion of Champions.

2009 Race of Champions Results.

Group A

Results

- Button (2:00.085) beat Kristensen (2:01.381)
- Foust (2:00.578) beat Chicherit (2:04.486)
- Button (1:57.627) beat Foust (1:57.677)
- Kristensen (1:58.305) beat Chicherit (DNF)
- Button (1:59.174) beat Chicherit (2:03.938)
- Kristensen (1:59.136) beat Foust (2:04.512)

Group B

Results

- Ekstrom (1:58.551) beat Priaulx (1:59.860)
- Doohan (2:04.325) beat Pastrana (2:04.402)
- Ekstrom (2:02.174) beat Pastrana (2:04.208)
- Priaulx (2:04.801) beat Doohan (2:05.229)
- Ekstrom (1:58.276) beat Doohan (DNF)
- Priaulx (2:00.043) beat Pastrana (DNF)

Group C

Results

- Vettel (2:00.363) beat Hirvonen (2:02.567)
- Reed (2:02.391) beat De Villiers (2:04.247)
- Vettel (1:51.442) beat De Villiers (1:53.626)
- Hirvonen (1:51.094) beat Reed (1:54.247)
- Vettel (1:58.583) beat Reed (DNF)
- Hirvonen (2:01.859) beat De Villiers (2:04.437)

Group D

Results

- Schumacher (1:58.644) beat Coulthard (2:00.503)
- Muller (2:00.191) beat Gronholm (2:01.456)
- Schumacher (1:59.296) beat Muller (2:01.474)
- Coulthard (2:00.259) beat Gronholm (2:00.835)
- Schumacher (1:59.907) beat Gronholm (2:02.111)
- Coulthard (1:58.547) beat Muller (1:58.956)

Quarter Finals

- Button beat Priaulx
- Ekstrom beat Kristensen
- Vettel beat Coulthard
- Schumacher beat Hirvonen

Semi Finals

- Ekstrom beats Button
- Schumacher beats Vettel

Final

- Ekstrom 2 - 0 Schumacher - Mattias Ekstrom wins the 2009 Race of Champions!