2005 FIA WTCC Race of France

  2005 Race of France
Round details
Round 2 of 10 in the 2005 World Touring Car Championship season at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in Magny-Cours, France.
Date May 1, 2005
Location Magny-Cours, France
Course Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
4.411 km
Race One
Laps 12
Pole position
Driver Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:49.486
Podium
First Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Second Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Third Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport
Fastest Lap
Driver Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:50.826
Race Two
Laps 12
Podium
First Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Second Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Third Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Fastest Lap
Driver Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:50.447

The Race of France was the second round of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours at Magny-Cours in France on May 1, 2005. Jörg Müller won both races, the first from pole, and the second from eighth on the reversed grid.

Contents

Report

Qualifying

Jörg Müller took his first pole position of the season by topping the timesheets in the qualifying session with a time of 1:49.846 in his BMW. Rickard Rydell's SEAT qualified second with a time 0.3 seconds slower than Jörg. Young Brazilian Augusto Farfus was third on the grid in the first Alfa Romeo ahead of reigning world champion Andy Priaulx in his BMW and Gabriele Tarquini in another Alfa Romeo.[1]

Race 1

Jörg Müller raced into the lead from pole, and Andy Priaulx was able to jump into second demoting front-row starter Rickard Rydell down to third. Augusto Farfus, who started third had a poor start and dropped down to sixth. Jörg Müller took a god lead from Priaulx, who also had a good gap to third-placed Rydell, who had to worry about Gabriele Tarquini who was only a second behind. Antonio García battled for fifth with Augusto Farfus until Jordi Gené's SEAT overtook the Brazilian. Farfus lost momentum, allowing Dirk Müller also through, and the latter also proceeded to pass Gené, and this battle allowed García to get a comofortable gap. Jörg Müller won very comfortably, nearly three seconds ahead of Priaulx. Rydell completed the podium ahead of Tarquini, who despite staying close was unable to attack the SEAT car. García, Dirk Müller, Gené and Farfus completed the points, with the Brazilian starting on pole in the next race. Marc Hennerici won the Independent's Trophy with a 13th place finish. [2]

Race 2

The reverse grid saw Farfus on pole, and he converted it into an early race lead, but however Gené who had started second was swamped by the BMW's and Tarquini's Alfa. At the end on lap 1, Farfus led from Dirk Müller, García, Tarquini, Jörg Müller, Gené, Priaulx who had not gained any spots from 7th, and James Thompson in another factory Alfa. Farfus continued to lead but Jörg Müller was starting to fight his way up, passing Tarquini on lap 2 and García a lap later. The pressure from Dirk Müller to Farfus increased lap after lap, and Farfus made a mistake dropping him from the lead to fifth. Jörg Müller then passed teammate Dirk to take the lead and then pulled away at a rate of knots. Dirk ran second, with García close behind, but Tarquini dropped away. Soon Farfus and Priaulx were past, and the reigning champion then passed Farfus as well to make it a BMW 1-2-3-4. He was not finished yet, and after closing up on Dirk Müller and García, took third from the Spainard and then attacked Dirk. Well ahead of them now, Jörg Müller won again to make it a double with Dirk holding off Priaulx and García to finish second, as BMW finished 1-2-3-4. Farfus had to settle to fifth, and Gené took sixth from a fading Tarquini, who was also passed by countryman and Alfa teammate Fabrizio Giovanardi near the end. Tom Coronel won the Independent's Trophy after finishing 14th, but he was disqualified for his car not complying with ride height regulations, and the Independent's Trophy went to Carl Rosenblad.[2]

Classification

Race 1

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 42 Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 12 22:19.545 1 10
2 1 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320i 12 +2.882 4 8
3 8 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +7.253 2 6
4 2 Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +8.334 5 5
5 5 Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 12 +9.899 6 4
6 43 Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 12 +12.912 9 3
7 9 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +14.115 8 2
8 7 Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +15.667 3 1
9 10 Peter Terting SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +19.453 7
10 6 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +19.587 11
11 3 James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +23.991 10
12 26 Roberto Colciago JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 12 +24.812 13
13 32 IT Marc Hennerici Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i 12 +26.543 20
14 28 IT Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i 12 +28.060 16
15 4 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 12 +35.192 14
16 19 IT Valle Mäkelä GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +35.755 12
17 22 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 12 +38.495 18
18 51 IT Salvatore Tavano DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 12 +41.644 19
19 21 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 12 +44.208 27
20 53 IT Gianluca de Lorenzi GDL Racing BMW 320i 12 +47.620 32
21 31 IT Giuseppe Cirò Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 12 +47.792 24
22 27 IT Adriano de Micheli JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 12 +48.627 26
23 20 IT Tom Coronel GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +52.701 23
24 15 Thomas Jäger Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 12 +59.186 33
25 54 IT Stefano Valli Zerocinque Motorsport BMW 320i 12 +1:08.383 29
Ret 14 Thomas Klenke Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 8 Accident 31
Ret 55 IT Alessandro Balzan Scuderia del Girasole SEAT Toledo Cupra 4 Collision 17
Ret 52 IT Andrea Larini DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 4 Collision 21
Ret 36 IT Sascha Plöderl RS-Line IPZ Racing Ford Focus ST170 3 Driveshaft 30
Ret 23 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 0 Collision 15
Ret 33 IT Adam Lacko IEP Team BMW 320i 0 Spun off 22
Ret 30 IT Stefano D'Aste Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 0 Collision 25
DNS 37 IT Frank Diefenbacher RS-Line IPZ Racing Ford Focus ST170 28

Race 2

Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 42 Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 12 22:23.707 8 10
2 43 Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 12 +5.003 3 8
3 1 Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320i 12 +5.171 7 6
4 5 Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 12 +5.480 4 5
5 7 Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +6.034 1 4
6 9 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +8.879 2 3
7 6 Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +10.538 10 2
8 2 Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +10.828 5 1
9 3 James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 12 +17.135 11
10 10 Peter Terting SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +19.057 9
11 8 Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +21.256 6
12 26 Roberto Colciago JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 12 +22.527 12
13 22 Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 12 +23.794 17
15 28 IT Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i 12 +26.152 14
16 21 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 12 +27.392 19
17 32 IT Marc Hennerici Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i 12 +28.849 13
18 31 IT Giuseppe Cirò Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 12 +29.162 21
19 51 IT Salvatore Tavano DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 12 +31.718 18
20 53 IT Gianluca de Lorenzi GDL Racing BMW 320i 12 +32.314 20
21 27 IT Adriano de Micheli JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 12 +32.902 22
22 15 Thomas Jäger Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 12 +38.381 24
23 14 Thomas Klenke Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 12 +39.227 30
24 54 IT Stefano Valli Zerocinque Motorsport BMW 320i 12 +52.259 25
25 4 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 12 +53.862 15
26 36 IT Sascha Plöderl RS-Line IPZ Racing Ford Focus ST170 10 +2 Laps 27
Ret 19 IT Valle Mäkelä GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 4 Collision 16
DNS 55 IT Alessandro Balzan Scuderia del Girasole SEAT Toledo Cupra 26
DNS 23 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 28
DNS 30 IT Stefano D'Aste Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 29
DNS 33 IT Adam Lacko IEP Team BMW 320i 32
DNS 37 IT Frank Diefenbacher RS-Line IPZ Racing Ford Focus ST170 33
DSQ 20 IT Tom Coronel GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 Disqualified 23

Standings after the races

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 Dirk Müller 29
2 Jörg Müller 25
3 Andy Priaulx 23
4 Antonio García 19
5 Gabriele Tarquini 14
Manufacturers' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 BMW 65
2 Alfa Romeo 46
3 SEAT 33
4 Chevrolet 12
5 Ford 0

References