ROC: Albuquerque crowned Champion of Champions

— Filipe Albuquerque lifts The Race of Champions trophy on his debut after stunning performance to beat Sébastien Loeb in the Grand Final in Düsseldorf

— Vettel beats Schumacher in titanic quarter-final showdown between Formula 1 champions past and present

— Former Race of Champions winner Heikki Kovalainen crashes out heavily in first race

Filipe Albuquerque delivered a thrilling performance to eclipse 15 superstars of motorsport and win The Race of Champions at his first attempt on an exciting afternoon in Düsseldorf.

In front of a packed ESPRIT arena the Portuguese driver overcame World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb 2-1 in the best-of-three Grand Final on the specially-constructed parallel track to earn the title of Champion of Champions.

Following Team Germany’s win last night in the ROC Nations Cup, The Race of Champions pitted 16 of the biggest names in motorsport against each other in head-to-head combat in a variety of different cars.

ROC South Europe winner Albuquerque’s route to the final took him past Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel in a very tight semi-final following his quarter-final triumph against fellow Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente.

Loeb reached the Grand Final courtesy of a quarter-final win over eight-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen followed by victory against would touring car star Andy Priaulx in the powerful Audi R8 LMS.

In another quarter-final, an epic clash saw home favourites, and F1 rivals, Vettel and Schumacher clash in KTM X-Bows. Victory went to the younger man by just over half a second. Priaulx beat Bertrand Baguette in the other last-eight tie.

Earlier today, the action began with a bang in the round-robin group stage, which featured four groups of four drivers fighting it out for the right to line up in the knock-out quarter-finals.

In the very first race of the day, Heikki Kovalainen suffered a huge accident after the chequered flag when his Audi R8 LMS ploughed through the barriers and hit the concrete wall hard.

The F1 driver escaped injury but needed a precautionary visit to a local hospital for checks which prevented him taking any further part. He and Jeroen Bleekemolen were eliminated from Group A as Loeb and Baguette progressed.

Group B saw motorcycling hero Mick Doohan miss out along with Travis Pastrana, who suffered a stall, a last-corner defeat and a spin in his three races. Priaulx won all three races while Kristensen also went through.

It was close too in Group C, where Albuquerque and Vettel took the top two spots, knocking out NASCAR front-runner Carl Edwards and X-Games gold medallist Travis Foust.

The final group of the first round featured an incredible combined 11 F1 world championships and Schumacher beat Alain Prost by just over a second in a closely-fought contest in the ROC Car.

Schumacher won all three first-round races with Parente going through as runner-up. Current British touring car number one Jason Plato missed out, as did Prost, who spun out of his last race in the KTM X-Bow.

A total of 64,052 fans attended The Race of Champions during the course of the weekend.

Filipe Albuquerque: “Today was my day. Everything went so well. I had to beat Vettel twice and in the final Sébastien was really on it. I just drove my race and when I won the first one I was really happy. In the second race I made a small mistake. But in the deciding race I was nice and smooth with no mistakes. I can’t believe it - it’s the first time I am here and I have won. To win against great names is just fantastic.”

Sébastien Loeb: “It was a really good fight but Filipe was very strong. I gave everything. This morning I wasn’t so confident after what happened yesterday in the ROC Nations Cup when I was beaten by Andy Priaulx but today went much better. I won all my races except for the one that mattered most, the final. But I am sure Filipe will be back again next year and I’d like to be back so I hope we can fight again!”

Sebastian Vettel: “It would have been interesting to have the current Formula 1 and World Rally champions together in the final but it wasn’t meant to be. That’s how it goes, Filipe drove a good race. In the quarter-final against Michael it worked but in the semi I pushed too hard into the first corner and lost too much time.”

Michael Schumacher: “Against Sebastian I was too careful and he got to the line first. But it’s been really nice to be here with all these talented guys. On the one hand it is a competitive event but also it is a bit more relaxed and we have the chance to catch up with people we otherwise don’t get to see, so I have enjoyed the weekend."