2005 FIA WTCC Race of France

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.

France 2005 Race of France
Race details
DateMay 1, 2005
LocationMagny-Cours, France
CourseCircuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
4.411 kilometres (2.741 mi)
Race One
Laps 12
Pole position
Driver Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:49.486
Podium
First Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Second United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Third Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport
Fastest Lap
Driver Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:50.826
Race Two
Laps 12
Podium
First Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Second Germany Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Third United Kingdom Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK
Fastest Lap
Driver Germany Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland
Time 1:50.447

Report

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Qualifying

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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

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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 comfortable 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

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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 Spaniard 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

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Race 1

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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
NC 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

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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 Retired 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
  • Note: Tom Coronel was disqualified from 14th as his car failed to comply with the ride height. No driver was given 14th.

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