2005 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico

The 2005 FIA WTCC Race Of Mexico was the fifth round of the 2005 World Touring Car Championship season. It was held at the Autódromo Miguel E. Abed. Fabrizio Giovanardi won the first race from pole position for Alfa Romeo, and Peter Terting took his first and only WTCC win in the second race, which also turned out to be SEAT's second win.

Mexico 2005 Race of Mexico
Race details
DateJune 26, 2005
LocationPuebla, Mexico
CourseAutódromo Miguel E. Abed
3.130 kilometres (1.945 mi)
Race One
Laps 17
Pole position
Driver Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Time 1:29.993
Podium
First Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Second Italy Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Third Sweden Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport
Fastest Lap
Driver Italy Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Time 1:30.587
Race Two
Laps 17
Podium
First Germany Peter Terting SEAT Sport
Second Spain Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain
Third Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Fastest Lap
Driver Italy Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team
Time 1:30.867

Report

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Qualifying

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Roberto Colciago took a shock pole position driving for Honda with a time of 1:29.830, with Peter Terting's SEAT very close behind. Fabrizio Giovanardi qualified third for Alfa Romeo, leading an Alfa quartet of Augusto Farfus, James Thompson and Gabriele Tarquini. However, Colciago, Terting and Farfus all had ten-place grid penalties for incidents in Imola and an engine change. The biggest shock in qualifying was that none of the factory BMWs qualified in the top ten. The first BMW was Antonio García in 11th, with reigning champion Andy Priaulx only 15th but still a spot ahead of championship leader Dirk Müller. Jörg Müller crashed heavily in practice and did not take part after that in the weekend due to a heavily damaged car.[1]

Race 1

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Roberto Colciago, Peter Terting and Augusto Farfus, who qualified on pole, 2nd and 4th respectively all suffered ten-place grid penalties, Terting for an engine change and the other two for dangerous driving in the previous race at Imola. Alfa Romeo, despite Farfus's penalty gratefully accepted that as their drivers Fabrizio Giovanardi, James Thompson and Gabriele Tarquini to start at the front. They maintained their positions early on, with Giovanardi leading Thompson and Tarquini, with Jordi Gené and Rickard Rydell following them in two SEATS, and Antonio García keeping BMW in the points. Gené crashed out on the second lap, leaving the three Alfas with a large 4.5 second gap after just 2 laps. Thompson stayed with Giovanardi in the early stages, however he lost pace as the race progressed, and was passed by Tarquini on lap 5. Thompson then had the rest of the pack close up on him, whereas Giovanardi and Tarquini continued to drive away at a rate of knots. Meanwhile, Roberto Colciago was on a charge after his penalty, jumping up from 11th to 5th after 3 laps. He then passed Rydell for fourth and was attacking third-placed Thompson when his gearbox broke and he had to retire. Robert Huff was in the points for Chevrolet, and a late race pass on Peter Terting put him up to a sensational 6th, and on the last lap Rydell passed Thompson to take third. Giovanardi took his second win in two weekends, with teammate Tarquini close behind. Rydell completed the podium, a massive 11 seconds behind, with Thompson, García, Huff, Terting and Tom Coronel, the latter of whom won the Independent's Trophy. Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx, first and second in the championship finished well out of the points in their BMWs.[2]

Race 2

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Independent driver Tom Coronel started on pole after finishing eighth in Race 1, however it was Peter Terting who took the lead at the start followed by García. Coronel, Thompson, Huff, Rydell, Giovanardi and Jason Plato in a factory SEAT completed the top 8, whereas Tarquini and Alex Zanardi's BMW collided, taking both out of the race. The front two started to pull away but Thompson soon got up to third and joined in, and his teammate Giovanardi passed Rydell and Huff on lap 2 before passing Coronel a lap later to get 4th; however he was 4 seconds behind the top three. Terting led with García and Thompson close behind, until an overtaking attempt by Thompson on García saw them bang wheels and go off the track, with García still rejoining second, but having lost time to Terting, while Thompson lost a place to Giovanardi. [2]

Classification

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Race 1

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Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 6   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 26:06.219 1 10
2 2   Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 +2.172 3 8
3 8   Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +11.525 5 6
4 3   James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 +13.298 2 5
5 5   Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 17 +13.772 7 4
6 21   Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 17 +15.658 6 3
7 10   Peter Terting SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +18.554 12 2
8 20 IT   Tom Coronel GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +21.880 9 1
9 7   Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 +24.487 14
10 22   Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 17 +25.072 10
11 11   Jason Plato SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +25.390 20
12 30 IT   Stefano D'Aste Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 17 +26.260 16
13 4   Alex Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 17 +27.351 19
14 31 IT   Giuseppe Cirò Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 17 +27.891 17
15 18 IT   Carlos Mastretta GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +32.664 18
16 28 IT   Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i 17 +35.650 22
17 32 IT   Marc Hennerici Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i 17 +39.301 21
18 43   Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 12 +5 Laps 15
NC 1   Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320i 11 +6 Laps 13
Ret 26   Roberto Colciago JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 10 Gearbox 11
NC 23   Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 7 +10 Laps 8
Ret 9   Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 1 Accident 4
DNS 27 IT   Adriano de Micheli JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 0 23
DNS 42   Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 0 24

Race 2

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Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 10   Peter Terting SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 26:10.825 2 10
2 5   Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 17 +0.693 4 8
3 6   Fabrizio Giovanardi Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 +7.578 8 6
4 3   James Thompson Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 +11.621 5 5
5 20 IT   Tom Coronel GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +13.038 1 4
6 8   Rickard Rydell SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +13.630 6 3
7 22   Nicola Larini Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 17 +17.091 10 2
8 1   Andy Priaulx BMW Team UK BMW 320i 17 +17.543 18 1
9 31 IT   Giuseppe Cirò Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 17 +21.098 14
10 7   Augusto Farfus Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 17 +21.704 9
11 30 IT   Stefano D'Aste Proteam Motorsport BMW 320i 17 +23.079 12
12 11   Jason Plato SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +23.822 11
13 23   Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 17 +25.176 19
14 32 IT   Marc Hennerici Wiechers-Sport BMW 320i 17 +28.942 17
15 28 IT   Carl Rosenblad Crawford Racing BMW 320i 17 +29.373 16
16 43   Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 17 +30.788 22
17 18 IT   Carlos Mastretta GR Asia SEAT Toledo Cupra 17 +34.149 15
18 26   Roberto Colciago JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 17 +37.461 21
19 9   Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra 12 +5 Laps 20
Ret 21   Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Lacetti 7 Accident 3
Ret 4   Alex Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i 1 Damage 13
Ret 2   Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Racing Team Alfa Romeo 156 0 Collision 7
DNS 27 IT   Adriano de Micheli JAS Motorsport Honda Accord Euro R 0 23
DNS 42   Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i 0 24

Standings after the races

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References

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World Touring Car Championship
Previous race:
2005 FIA WTCC Race of San Marino
2005 World Touring Car Championship season Next race:
2005 FIA WTCC Race of Belgium
Previous race:
none
FIA WTCC Race of Mexico Next race:
2006 FIA WTCC Race of Mexico