Schumacher wins over Johnson in ROC

Michael Schumacher has won over NASCAR�s Jimmie Johnson in last Sunday�s ROC. Schumacher, touted as the world�s best driver most certainly did not disappoint spectators and racing experts by winning the quarter � finals.

The American team, composed of Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana, were outrun by the German Team, Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Vettel. Prior to the race, Johnson felt that he might not be able to drive a rally car that well. Being used to stock cars in NASCAR, this would be a rare time for Johnson to handle a four � wheel drive.

Once the race kicked off, Schumacher had outrun Johnson by a large percentage. Johnson was obviously miffed by the results of the race. He says, �Hell yeah I'm [upset] -- I want to win. I went out and did all that I could. I just do not understand the four-wheel drive, hand brake, rally car driving. I don't have a lot of experience at it, and to show the level that he showed in the car, I think he's had some days in it. He certainly navigated.� In the course of the race, Johnson would sometimes mistakenly grab the hand brake instead of the gear shift, causing him to stall for quite a number of times.

Schumacher defends himself by saying that he hasn�t ridden the cars before the competition. The statement was quite the truth as Schumacher would stall in the same four wheel drive type car later on. Schumacher says, �I didn't get so well along with the rally car. I need some open wheels. They spin more easily for me.�

Despite feeling a bit down about the outcome, Johnson believes Schumacher deserved his win. He is quoted saying, �"Even guys in the drivers' room were like, 'That's pretty good for an asphalt guy driving like a Pro Rally guy,'. But he did an awesome job. I wasn't even close.�

Johnson�s teammate, Travis Pastrana, however, kept the spirit alive for the US Team. In a round of racing Aston Martins, Pastrana outrun Germany�s Sebastien Vettel. Pastrana went on to compete with Schumacher. But Schumacher still won over Pastrana.

When asked about what happened during the race, Pastrana recounts, that he �drove too fast� and kept �overshooting corners and braking marks�. Pastrana himself is amazed by Schumacher�s driving ability. He says, �He's definitely not overrated. The more pressure, the better I usually do. But I definitely overdrove the car. If it was someone I thought I could definitely beat by just driving consistently, I would have had a much better run. But honestly, I didn't think my driving consistently would have won that match, so I had to try to drive a little harder. He might get a lot of byes by people trying to overdrive the car. He's earned that reputation. He definitely lives up to the hype.�

Sources: Schumacher bests U.S. duo in ROC; Germany wins Nations Cup , Germans win Race of Champions