2005 FIA WTCC Race of Italy

The 2005 FIA WTCC Race of Italy was the opening round of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship season, the first season of the revived World Touring Car Championship, after a previous season in 1987. It was held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza at Monza in Italy on April 10, 2005. BMW and Alfa Romeo took one victory each, Dirk Müller winning Race 1 for the former, and James Thompson winning Race 2.

Italy 2005 Race of Italy
Race details
DateApril 10, 2005
LocationMonza, Italy
CourseAutodromo Nazionale di Monza
5.793 kilometres (3.600 mi)
Race One
Laps 9
Pole position
Driver Germany Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:59.009
Podium
First Germany Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Second Italy Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Third Brazil Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Fastest Lap
Driver Germany Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:59.552
Race Two
Laps 9
Podium
First United Kingdom James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Second Germany Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Third Spain Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain
Fastest Lap
Driver Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:59.058

Report

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Qualifying

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Dirk Müller took pole position for the first World Touring Car Championship race by topping the timesheets in the qualifying session with a time of 1:59.009. Two other BMWs had finished behind him, fellow BMW Team Deutschland driver Jörg Müller, and the BMW Team Italy-Spain car of Antonio García. However, Jörg had his best time disallowed by the stewards after he failed to stop at the weighing scales, dropping him to 18th. Alfa Romeo Racing Team drivers Gabriele Tarquini and Augusto Farfus qualified in third and fourth place, with reigning European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx fifth for BMW Team UK. The session was brought to a premature end after Alain Menu crashed his Chevrolet Lacetti, bringing out the red flags.[1]

Race 1

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Dirk Müller led the first race of the new FIA World Touring Car Championship from pole position to take the victory. Behind him, Gabriele Tarquini finished second, with his Alfa Romeo teammate Augusto Farfus finishing third after managing to keep Andy Priaulx at bay. Antonio García slipped back from his front row starting position to finish fifth after he had been nudged off the track by Farfus during an overtaking manoeuvre. The remaining Alfa Romeo drivers, Fabrizio Giovanardi and James Thompson, finished in sixth and seventh position, with SEAT Sport's Rickard Rydell taking the last point in eighth as well as pole position for Race 2, for which the top eight finishers from the first race are reversed on the race two grid. Marc Hennerici finished 13th overall to take the victory in the Independent's Trophy.[2]

Race 2

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Polesitter Rydell was passed by Thompson for the lead at the start of the second race. Meanwhile, Giovanardi stalled on the second row of the grid. García and Dirk Müller were able to pass Rydell for second and third and began chasing Thompson for the lead, but García made a mistake and lost three positions to Müller, Farfus and Tarquini. On the sixth lap, Farfus ran wide at the first chicane, while Müller and Tarquini clashed, putting the Italian out of the race. This allowed García to regain third behind Dirk Müller. Thompson crossed the line to win the race ahead of Dirk Müller and García. Jörg Müller recovered from 29th on the grid to finish in fourth, with Jordi Gené, Alessandro Zanardi and Giovanardi rounding out the points. Hennerici won the Independent's Trophy after finishing tenth.[2]

Classification

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Race 1

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Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 43   Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 9 18:03.203 1 10
2 2   Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 +2.465 3 8
3 7   Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 +3.854 4 6
4 1   Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320i 9 +3.977 5 5
5 5   Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 9 +8.088 2 4
6 6   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 +8.248 8 3
7 3   James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 +8.910 9 2
8 8   Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +9.192 7 1
9 9   Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +9.414 6
10 4   Alex Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 9 +14.843 11
11 10   Peter Terting SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +16.042 10
12 26   Roberto Colciago JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 9 +20.441 13
13 32 IT   Marc Hennerici Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i 9 +21.819 12
14 34 IT   Tomas Engström Honda Dealer Team Sweden Honda Accord Euro R 9 +26.396 17
15 20 IT   Tom Coronel GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +26.571 20
16 30 IT   Stefano D'Aste Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 9 +26.837 16
17 51 IT   Salvatore Tavano DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 9 +31.827 19
18 55 IT   Alessandro Balzan Scuderia del Girasole SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +33.477 25
19 52 IT   Andrea Larini DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 9 +37.711 15
20 21   Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 9 +37.720 21
21 27 IT   Adriano de Micheli JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 9 +43.914 30
22 23   Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 9 +44.271 23
23 53 IT   Gianluca de Lorenzi GDL Racing BMW 320i 9 +44.827 31
24 22   Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 9 +45.767 24
25 33 IT   Adam Lacko IEP Team Alfa Romeo 156 Gta 9 +49.641 22
26 35 IT   Jens Hellström Honda Dealer Team Sweden Honda Civic Type-R 9 +57.996 33
27 54 IT   Stefano Valli Zerocinque Motorsport BMW 320i 9 +58.363 32
28 15   Thomas Jäger Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 9 +1:05.240 25
29 42   Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 8 +1 Lap 18
Ret 14   Thomas Klenke Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 4 Accident 28
Ret 19 IT   Valle Mäkelä GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 4 Accident 26
Ret 31 IT   Giuseppe Cirò Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 0 Mechanical 29
DNS 28 IT   Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i 0 14

Race 2

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Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 3   James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 18:13.906 2 10
2 43   Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 9 +0.530 8 8
3 5   Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 9 +0.765 4 6
4 42   Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 9 +1.248 29 5
5 1   Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320i 9 +1.467 5 4
6 9   Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +2.470 9 3
7 4   Alex Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 9 +5.976 10 2
8 6   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 +6.767 3 1
9 7   Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 9 +8.904 6
10 32 IT   Marc Hennerici Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i 9 +18.231 13
11 55 IT   Alessandro Balzan Scuderia del Girasole SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +24.527 18
12 33 IT   Adam Lacko IEP Team Alfa Romeo 156 Gta 9 +31.611 25
13 19 IT   Valle Mäkelä GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +31.991 32
14 27 IT   Adriano de Micheli JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 9 +32.555 21
15 22   Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 9 +33.545 22
16 51 IT   Salvatore Tavano DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 9 +34.121 17
17 10   Peter Terting SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 9 +37.443 11
18 31 IT   Giuseppe Cirò Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 9 +37.480 31
19 54 IT   Stefano Valli Zerocinque Motorsport BMW 320i 9 +42.228 27
20 52 IT   Andrea Larini DB Motorsport Alfa Romeo 156 9 +44.679 19
21 35 IT   Jens Hellström Honda Dealer Team Sweden Honda Civic Type-R 9 +1:12.036 26
22 30 IT   Stefano D'Aste Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 8 +1 Lap 16
23 34 IT   Tomas Engström Honda Dealer Team Sweden Honda Accord Euro R 8 +1 Lap 14
RET 23   Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 6 Engine 22
Ret 2   Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 5 Spun off 7
Ret 21   Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 5 Collision 20
Ret 53 IT   Gianluca de Lorenzi GDL Racing BMW 320i 5 Collision 23
Ret 20 IT   Tom Coronel GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 4 Mechanical 15
Ret 26   Roberto Colciago JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 4 Accident 12
Ret 8   Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 1 Accident 1
Ret 15   Thomas Jäger Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 0 Mechanical 28
DNS 14   Thomas Klenke Ford Hotfiel Sport Ford Focus 0 30
DNS 28 IT   Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i 0 33

Standings after the races

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the drivers standings.

References

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World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
first race
2005 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2005 FIA WTCC Race of France
Previous race:
none
FIA WTCC Race of Italy Next race:
2006 FIA WTCC Race of Italy