2005 FIA WTCC Race of Italy
# 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.

## Report

### Qualifying

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.

### Race 1

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.

### Race 2

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.

## Classification

### Race 1

| 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

| 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

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | Dirk Müller | 18 |
| 2 | James Thompson | 12 |
| 3 | Antonio García | 10 |
| 4 | Andy Priaulx | 9 |
| 5 | Gabriele Tarquini | 8 |
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | BMW | 29 |
| 2 | Alfa Romeo | 28 |
| 3 | SEAT | 15 |
| 4 | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 5 | Ford | 0 |

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