2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race

2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race
File:Spa 2004.png Spa made its DTM debut in 2005
Race Information
Date	15 May 2005
No.	79 (3 of 2005)
Event	DTM Spa-Francorchamps 2005
Location	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot, Liège, Belgium
Format	165 km / 70 min (Championship Race)
Lap length	6.976 km (4.335 mi)
Distance	24 laps / 167.424 km (104.032 mi)
Qualifying Result
Pole Sitter	Mika Häkkinen
Team	Vodafone/Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes
Time	2:32.729
Fastest Lap
Driver	Mika Häkkinen
Team	Vodafone/Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes
Time	2:13.134 on lap 13
Race Result
First	Second	Third
Mika Häkkinen	Mattias Ekström	Tom Kristensen
Winner Team	Vodafone/Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes
Time	54:34.544
Race Guide
Previous		Next
2005 Lausitzring I Race		2005 Brno Race

The 2005 Spa Race, otherwise formally known as the DTM Spa-Francorchamps 2005 was the third round of the 2005 DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship, staged at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Liège, Belgium, on 15 May 2005. The race, which was the first ever DTM round to be held at Spa, would see Mika Häkkinen storm to his maiden DTM victory after dominating the weekend.

Indeed, the former F1 ace was unbeatable in qualifying, securing pole position by over half a second from defending Champion Mattias Ekström. Ekström himself was six tenths clear of Christian Abt in third, while Marcel Fässler secured fourth on the grid for Opel in damp conditions.

The start of the race would see Häkkinen initially make a good getaway, only for a barnstorming start from Ekström in second to rob him of the lead into La Source. It was a similar story behind as Fässler got the jump on Abt to claim third, with the rest of the field making it through the hairpin without issue.

The rest of the opening tour saw Ekström make an early escape, with Häkkinen otherwise occupied fending off the attentions of Fässler. Behind, Tom Kristensen overhauled Abt to run in fourth, while the rest of the field had largely settled down into running in grid order.

The early laps proved to be rather tame as the top four began to break clear of the rest, leaving Jean Alesi to fight with Abt for fifth as the main battle in the field. Häkkinen, meanwhile, would manage to escape from Fässler after their early scrap, and would soon begin to reel in Ekström after the Swede's initial two second break.

A spin for Heinz-Harald Frentzen would then trigger the first round of stops, the former F1 racer sending himself into a spin while fighting with Martin Tomczyk. Fässler and Kristensen duly dived into the pits as the first of the lead quartet to stop, while Ekström and Häkkinen continued on, still with just a second between them.

Ekström was the first top stop, with Häkkinen duly blitzing his in-lap, before a stunningly quick stop from the HWA Team pitcrew got him serviced in 4.5 seconds. That combination was enough to get the #8 Mercedes out ahead of the #1 Audi, although Häkkinen did have to defend from Ekström through Eau Rouge.

With that the race was run, with Häkkinen able to control the race ahead of Ekström, while Kristensen was able to jump ahead of Fässler. Elsewhere, Bruno Spengler was forced to retire when the bonnet of his car flew off his car, while Bernd Schneider crashed heavily at Eau Rouge in the closing stages after a touch with Laurent Aïello while fighting for seventh.

The race would end with Schneider's shattered car still on the run-off at Eau Rouge, with Häkkinen also recording fastest lap en-route to his first win since leaving F1. Ekström and Kristensen duly completed an all-Scandinavian podium, while Alesi used a clever pit strategy to climb to fourth ahead of Fässler. Tomczyk was next up ahead of Aïello, while Gary Paffett kept his early Championship lead alive by claiming the final point in eighth.

Background

Two weeks after the trip to a modified version of the Lausitzring, the DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters headed for a brand new circuit to the Series, and one of legendary status globally. Indeed, on the weekend of 14 - 15 May the DTM field arrived at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Liège, Belgium for the first time, with the original Deutsche Tourenwagen Meistershaft having raced in Belgium before at the Circuit Park Zolder. The modern DTM would use the full Grand Prix circuit for its first trip to the host of the Belgian Grand Prix, and use the Grand Prix pits rather than the older garages on the run down to Eau Rouge.

Weighty Additions

The new-for-2005 ballast system would again be in-play for the trip to Spa, with AMG-Mercedes and Opel again seeing their weights changed, while Audi retained its original weight. Indeed, Mercedes saw their cars run with another 10 kg in additional weight to what they had run in Lausitz, while Opel lost a further 10 kg. Audi, meanwhile, would run their cars at their original minimum weight for the third race in a row.

Outlined below are the success ballast allocations for the 2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race:

2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race Success Ballast
Manufacturer	Year	Weight
AMG-Mercedes	2004	1,055 kg (▲ 10 kg)
	2005	1,070 kg (▲ 10 kg)
Audi	2004	1,035 kg (—)
	2005	1,050 kg (—)
Opel	2004	1,015 kg (▼ 10 kg)
	2005	1,030 kg (▼ 10 kg)

Speedway Supreme

Victory at the Lausitzring had moved Gary Paffett to the top of the Championship after his first win of the campaign, with the Brit having moved six clear of teammate Jean Alesi, the former leader. Mattias Ekström was up to third as he mounted his title defence, while Tom Kristensen had moved up to fourth ahead of Mika Häkkinen to make it three Scandinavian drivers in the top five. Bernd Schneider was next up ahead of Christian Abt, with eleven drivers having scored in the first two rounds.

DC Bank AMG-Mercedes headed the charge in the Teams' Championship, having claimed 30 points in the first two races. Sister squad Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes occupied second, while Audi Team Joest Racing completed the early top three. In the Manufacturers' Championship AMG-Mercedes continued to head the charge after two wins in two races, twenty ahead of Audi in second.

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race is displayed below:

2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race Entry List
No.	Name	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Livery
1	Mattias Ekström	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	A4 DTM	File:EKS 05 Livery.png
2	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline	Audi	A4 DTM	File:TOM 05 Livery.png
3	Gary Paffett	DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:PAF 05 Livery.png
4	Jean Alesi	DaimlerChrysler Bank AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:ALE 05 Livery.png
5	Tom Kristensen	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	A4 DTM	File:KRI 05 Livery.png
6	Allan McNish	Audi Sport Team Abt	Audi	A4 DTM	File:MCN 05 Livery.png
7	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/Sport Edition AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:BSC 05 Livery.png
8	Mika Häkkinen	AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:HAK 05 Livery.png
9	Marcel Fässler	GMAC/Stern Team OPC	Opel	Vectra GTS V8	File:FAE 05 Livery.png
10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	GMAC/Stern Team OPC	Opel	Vectra GTS V8	File:FRE 05 Livery.png
11	Laurent Aïello	Team OPC	Opel	Vectra GTS V8	File:AIE 05 Livery.png
12	Manuel Reuter	Team OPC	Opel	Vectra GTS V8	File:AIE 05 Livery.png
14	Christian Abt	Audi Sport Team Joest Racing	Audi	A4 DTM	File:ABT 05 Livery.png
15	Pierre Kaffer	Audi Sport Team Joest Racing	Audi	A4 DTM	File:KAF 05 Livery.png
16	Stefan Mücke	Mücke Motorsport	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:MUC 05 Livery.png
17	Alexandros Margaritis	Mücke Motorsport	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:MAR 05 Livery.png
18	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi	A4 DTM	File:CAP 05 Livery.png
19	Frank Stippler	Audi Sport Team Joest	Audi	A4 DTM	File:STI 05 Livery.png
20	Bruno Spengler	Junge Gebrauchte/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:SPE 05 Livery.png
21	Jamie Green	Junge Gebrauchte/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	AMG-Mercedes	C-Klasse DTM	File:GRE 05 Livery.png
Source:

Qualifying

Results

The final qualifying result for the 2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race are outlined below:

2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race Qualifying Result
Super Pole Results
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	8	Mika Häkkinen	Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes	2:32.729	—	164.432 km/h	1
2nd	1	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	2:33.292	+0.563s	163.828 km/h	2
3rd	14	Christian Abt	Audi Team Joest Racing	2:33.991	+1.262s	163.084 km/h	3
4th	9	Marcel Fässler	GMAC/Stern Team OPC	2:34.121	+1.392s	162.947 km/h	4
5th	15	Pierre Kaffer	Audi Team Joest Racing	2:34.304	+1.575s	162.754 km/h	5
6th	5	Tom Kristensen	Audi Team Abt	2:34.870	+2.141s	162.159 km/h	6
7th	11	Laurent Aïello	Team OPC	2:35.844	+3.115s	161.145 km/h	7
8th	4	Jean Alesi	DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	2:36.884	+4.155s	160.077 km/h	8
9th	21	Jamie Green	JG/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	2:41.078	+8.349s	155.909 km/h	9
NC	3	Gary Paffett	DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	—			10
Qualifying Results
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Time	Gap	Ave. Speed	Grid
1st	11	Laurent Aïello	GMAC/Stern Team OPC	2:31.928	—	165.299 km/h	SP
2nd	9	Marcel Fässler	Team OPC	2:32.450	+0.522s	164.733 km/h	SP
3rd	5	Tom Kristensen	Audi Team Abt	2:32.630	+0.702s	164.539 km/h	SP
4th	1	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	2:32.918	+0.990s	164.229 km/h	SP
5th	21	Jamie Green	JG/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	2:33.391	+1.463s	163.722 km/h	SP
6th	15	Pierre Kaffer	Audi Team Joest Racing	2:33.569	+1.641s	163.533 km/h	SP
7th	14	Christian Abt	Audi Team Joest Racing	2:33.901	+1.973s	163.180 km/h	SP
8th	8	Mika Häkkinen	Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes	2:33.904	+1.976s	163.177 km/h	SP
9th	4	Jean Alesi	DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	2:33.913	+1.985s	163.167 km/h	SP
10th	3	Gary Paffett	DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	2:34.036	+2.108s	163.037 km/h	SP
11th	16	Stefan Mücke	Mücke Motorsport	2:34.293	+2.365s	162.765 km/h	11
12th	7	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes	2:34.364	+2.436s	162.690 km/h	12
13th	6	Allan McNish	Audi Team Abt	2:34.454	+2.526s	162.595 km/h	13
14th	2	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	2:34.788	+2.860s	162.245 km/h	14
15th	17	Alexandros Margaritis	Mücke Motorsport	2:34.976	+3.048s	162.048 km/h	15
16th	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	Team OPC	2:35.215	+3.287s	161.798 km/h	16
17th	12	Manuel Reuter	GMAC/Stern Team OPC	2:35.476	+3.548s	161.527 km/h	17
18th	18	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Team Joest	2:36.366	+4.438s	160.607 km/h	18
19th	20	Bruno Spengler	JG/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	2:37.118	+5.190s	159.839 km/h	19
20th	19	Frank Stippler	Audi Team Joest	2:37.164	+5.236s	159.792 km/h	20
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver's best/qualifying time.

Grid

The starting grid for the 2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race in shown below:

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
		______________
Row 1	______________	1
	2	Mika Häkkinen
	Mattias Ekström	______________
Row 2	______________	3
	4	Christian Abt
	Marcel Fässler	______________
Row 3	______________	5
	6	Pierre Kaffer
	Tom Kristensen	______________
Row 4	______________	7
	8	Laurent Aïello
	Jean Alesi	______________
Row 5	______________	9
	10	Jamie Green
	Gary Paffett	______________
Row 6	______________	11
	12	Stefan Mücke
	Bernd Schneider	______________
Row 7	______________	13
	14	Allan McNish
	Martin Tomczyk	______________
Row 8	______________	15
	16	Alexandros Margaritis
	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	______________
Row 9	______________	17
	18	Manuel Reuter
	Rinaldo Capello	______________
Row 10	______________	19
	20	Bruno Spengler
	Frank Stippler	______________

Race

Results

The final classification of the 2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race is displayed below:

2005 Spa-Francorchamps Race Result
Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Laps	Race Time	Fastest lap	Pts.
1st	8	Mika Häkkinen	Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes	24	54:34.544	2:13.134	10
2nd	1	Mattias Ekström	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	24	+4.258s	2:13.637	8
3rd	5	Tom Kristensen	Audi Team Abt	24	+5.976s	2:13.249	6
4th	4	Jean Alesi	DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	24	+10.088s	2:13.173	5
5th	9	Marcel Fässler	GMAC/Sterm Team OPC	24	+27.801s	2:13.935	4
6th	2	Martin Tomczyk	Audi Team Abt Sportsline	24	+28.001s	2:13.520	3
7th	11	Laurent Aïello	Team OPC	24	+33.516s	2:14.600	2
8th	3	Gary Paffett	DC Bank AMG-Mercedes	24	+40.407s	2:13.875	1
9th	17	Alexandros Margaritis	Mücke Motorsport	24	+50.255s	2:14.935
10th	14	Christian Abt	Audi Team Joest Racing	24	+50.856s	2:14.600
11th	19	Frank Stippler	Audi Team Joest	24	+51.402s	2:14.476
12th	16	Stefan Mücke	Mücke Motorsport	24	+55.593s	2:15.018
13th	18	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Team Joest	24	+55.961s	2:14.623
14th	15	Pierre Kaffer	Audi Team Joest Racing	24	+56.711s	2:14.217
15th	10	Heinz-Harald Frentzen	GMAC/Sterm Team OPC	24	+1:28.708	2:14.198
16th	12	Manuel Reuter	Team OPC	23	+1 Lap	2:14.076
17th	7	Bernd Schneider	Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes	22	Accident	2:14.723
18th	6	Allan McNish	Audi Team Abt	21	+3 Laps	2:14.735
19th	21	Jamie Green	JG/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	20	+4 Laps	2:14.021
Ret	20	Bruno Spengler	JG/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes	12	Damage	2:16.184
Source:

• Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
• Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

• First DMSB Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Championship race to be held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
  • This was also the last DTM race staged at Spa until the 2020 Spa Race 1.
• Maiden pole position for Mika Häkkinen.
• First victory for Häkkinen.
• HWA Team claimed their 45th win as an entrant.
  • AMG-Mercedes secured their 47th win as a manufacturer.

Standings

A maiden victory for Mika Häkkinen had shot the Finn straight into title contention after the third round, although the ex-F1 ace was still two shy of the early leader. Indeed, Gary Paffett had retained the lead in the Championship after scoring a solitary point at Spa, while Häkkinen himself was level with Jean Alesi on seventeen points, but considered ahead courtesy of his podium at Lausitz. Mattias Ekström was also level with them on seventeen, but behind both as he had yet to win in 2005, while Tom Kristensen rounded out the top five.

In the Teams' Championship the early table was still dominated by HWA Team, with their first squad backed by DaimlerChrysler Bank leading the charge on 36 points. Furthermore, their secondary squad with Vodafone/Sport Edition backing occupied second, on 23 points, with Audi Team Abt Sportsline their closest challengers in third on twenty. In the Manufacturers' Championship AMG-Mercedes headed the table on 65 points after three wins in three races, with Audi nineteen behind in second.

 

2005 Drivers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st Gary Paffett 19 ◄0 2nd Mika Häkkinen 17 ▲3 3rd Jean Alesi 17 ▼1 4th Mattias Ekström 17 ▼1 5th Tom Kristensen 14 ▼1 6th Bernd Schneider 6 ◄0 7th Christian Abt 5 ◄0 8th Marcel Fässler 4 ▲4 9th Pierre Kaffer 4 ▼1 10th Frank Stippler 3 ▼1 11th Martin Tomczyk 3 ▲6 12th Jamie Green 3 ▼2 13th Stefan Mücke 3 ▼2 14th Laurent Aïello 2 ▼1

2005 Teams' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st DC Bank AMG-Mercedes 36 ◄0 2nd Vodafone/SE AMG-Mercedes 23 ◄0 3rd Audi Team Abt Sportsline 20 ▲1 4th Audi Team Abt 14 ▲1 5th Audi Team Joest Racing 9 ▼2 6th GMAC/Stern Team OPC 4 ▲3 7th Audi Team Joest 3 ▼1 8th JG/Salzgitter AMG-Mercedes 3 ▼1 9th Mücke Motorsport 3 ◄0 10th Team OPC 2 ◄0 2005 Manufacturers' Championship Pos. Name Pts. +/- 1st AMG-Mercedes 65 ◄0 2nd Audi 46 ◄0 3rd Opel 6 ◄0

Only point scoring drivers are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

References: