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2005
FORMULA BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
WORLD
FINAL FORMULA BMW - BAHRAIN
- 35
drivers representing 15 countries
- Dec
16, 2005
Holzer wins
world final
17 year old German
Marco Holzer wins the inaugural world final. His prize is a test with
the Formula One BMW Sauber team.
- HOLZER:
"I cannot find the words to describe how I feel at the moment ...
I came to Bahrain and my goal was to finish in the top ten. I have won
every race I competed in and now I have the opportunity to test the
BMW Sauber F1 Team car! This result is unbelievable and I have realised
the greatest dream of my life. I just want to thank my team and BMW
for making this dream come true."
RACE RESULT
- WORLD FINAL, DEC 16, 2005
- 1 Marco
Holzer, GER, 25 laps
- 2 Sebastien
Buemi, SUI +1.5s
- 3 Nicolas
Huelkenberg* , GER +6.9
- 4 Sam Bird, UK
- 5 Nathan Antunes,
AUS
- 6 Robert Wickens,
CAN
- 7 Ross Curnow,
UK
- 8 Dominik Wasem,
GER
- 9 Matt Howson,
UK
- 10 James Davison,
AUS
- 11 Andzej Dzikevic/LTU
12 Dean Smith/UK 13 Matt Harris /UK
14 Matt Lee/US 15 Robert T. Boughey/THA 16 Philip Glew/UK
- *won the race
but demoted with 10 second penalty
2005
FORMULA BMW SEASON REVIEW
- Talent promotion
pays dividends.
As the season just ended has clearly shown, there is no other globe-
spanning entry-level series in which talented young drivers who have
grown out of their karts are offered such an invaluable introduction
to professional motor racing as Formula BMW. All four champions of the
successful sister series in Germany, Britain, North America and Asia
took part in the BMW Education and Coaching Programme before their triumphs
on the race track.
- "If rough
diamonds are to be turned into gems," says BMW Motorsport Director
Mario Theissen, "they first need to be polished. In terms of motor
racing that means junior drivers need a comprehensive training programme
tailored to their needs. Formula BMW is just such a school to prepare
for the life of a racing driver." Whether driving technique, chassis
set-up, fitness or media training - as part of the tried and tested
BMW promotion scheme the young drivers are provided with the necessary
stock-in-trade with which to make their mark in the big wide world of
motor sport.
- At BMW, the tradition
of talent promotion goes all the way back to the late 1970s when the
BMW Junior Team made a name for itself in motor racing.
- As part of the
Procar Series, up-and-coming young drivers competed against well-known
Formula One stars. Since 1991, BMW has been collaborating with the ADAC
in the German motor sport scene. In 2002 this cooperation led to the
founding of the new Formula BMW ADAC Championship in which a standard
car - the Formula BMW FB02 - sets benchmarks above all in terms of safety
technology. In the following years, the series went international with
great success. In 2003 the concept was first exported to Asia, and a
year later to Great Britain and the USA as well.
- The latest example
of how Formula BMW graduates are primed for a successful future is Sebastian
Vettel (Heppenheim). Last year, the 18- year-old took a commanding Formula
BMW ADAC Championship title and on 27th September 2005 had the opportunity
to take a test drive with the
- BMW WilliamsF1
Team in Jerez, Spain. That same opportunity also awaits the winner of
the first Formula BMW World Final, which takes place from 13th to 16th
December 2005 in Bahrain. This event represents the highlight so far
of the global rise of Formula BMW.
- Germany: Review
- Champion profile - Statistics.
- Formula BMW ADAC
Championship 2005.
Two drivers made their mark on the Formula BMW ADAC Championship last
season: Sébastien Buemi (SUI) and Nicolas Hülkenberg (Emmerich).
- For a long time
it looked as if BMW promoted driver Hülkenberg would have no problem
taking both the championship and the rookie titles in his debut year
in this successful junior series. But towards the end of the season
Buemi - who had finished third in the previous year's championship -
brought his experience into play and managed to close the gap to Hülkenberg.
- Even after the
final race, the championship upheld its excitement. Only after a judgment
by the DMSB appeal court in Frankfurt was Hülkenberg hailed as
the new Formula BMW ADAC Champion. At the end of a safety car period
in the 19th race, Buemi had braked sharply just ahead of the start/finish
line. Hülkenberg swerved, passed the Swiss driver and took the
chequered flag. Initially both drivers were handed a 30-second penalty.
After an appeal by both team managers, the DMSB sports stewards revoked
the penalty against Buemi since no unsporting behaviour that was in
breach of the regulations could be proved. Hülkenberg's team manager
Kaufmann, however, lodged an appeal with the DMSB appeal court, which
retrospectively imposed a 60-second penalty on Buemi.
- "Once again
this year our junior drivers have made tremendous progress over the
course of the season," says BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen.
"With his performance, Nicolas Hülkenberg has confirmed that
he is the discovery of the 2005 season. I'm looking forward to seeing
him and the other drivers again at the Formula BMW World Final in Bahrain."
After only the 14th race, held at the Norisring, the 18-year-old had
tied up an early Rookie title for himself.
- Last year saw Sebastian
Vettel (Heppenheim) dominating the Formula BMW ADAC Championship, while
the 2005 season had fans electrified by the head-to-head battle between
Buemi and Hülkenberg. But further back in the field, too, the 25
drivers from 13 countries provided plenty of exhilarating sport in each
of the 20 races. Apart from Hülkenberg (eight wins) and Buemi (seven),
race victories were also celebrated by Chris van der Drift (NLD), João
Urbano (POR) and Mika Mäki (FIN). The sole woman in the field,
Natacha Gachnang (SUI), finished sixth in the championship rankings.
- In the course of
the season, "the fastest classroom in the world" appeared
not only on circuits around Germany: the talented youngsters were also
vying for points in Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), Brno (CZE) and Zandvoort
(NLD).
- The highlight came
with the races staged as part of the support programme of the European
Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Here Hülkenberg and Urbano
won a race each to make it to the top of the podium - in close vicinity
to their Formula One idols.
- Winner of the Formula
BMW ADAC Championship 2005.
The memory that Formula BMW ADAC Champion and Rookie champion Nicolas
Hülkenberg will cherish above all others is of his race win during
the Formula One weekend at the Nürburgring: "Driving there
was something very special for me. Kimi Raikkonen is my role model,"
says the young racer from North-Rhine Westphalia. While his idol in
motor racing's top echelon had to make do with the runner-up slot, 18-year-
old Hülkenberg ultimately ended the season with the championship
title. Not only that, he proved unmatched in the rookie rankings as
the fastest driver in his class 16 times. With another six races still
to go, he had the title firmly in his grasp.
- Hülkenberg
spent ten years building up experience on the kart track, where he won
the 2003 German Kart Championship among other achievements. Before the
start of the season the youngster had already won over the judges at
the Formula BMW Racing Center in Valencia during the three selection
courses. In doing so he secured one of seven coveted places in the sponsorship
programme run jointly by BMW and the ADAC. In 2005 Hülkenberg provided
proof that their confidence had justifiably been placed in his racing
ability. Whether he will launch another attempt at overall victory next
year or move on to the next stage of his Formula racing career has yet
to be decided.
- December, at any
rate, will once more see Nicolas Hülkenberg behind the wheel of
a Formula BMW when, at the Formula BMW World Final in Bahrain, he will
be pitting his skills against another 35 drivers from 15 nations.
- Awaiting the winner
will be an invaluable prize: a test drive with the BMW managed Formula-One-Team.
- Great Britain:
Review - Champion profile - Statistics.
- Formula BMW UK
Championship 2005.
Eight different winners and the title decided in the very last race:
the second season of the Formula BMW UK Championship could hardly have
been more exciting. Following the successful launch of the series last
year, Formula BMW has also consolidated its reputation in Britain as
the leading entry- level series in international Formula racing. At
tradition-steeped venues such as Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Donington
the 27 drivers delivered first- rate motor sport from the first to the
last of the season's 20 races.
- In a nail biting
final, Dean Smith (GBR) of Team Nexa Racing clinched the title. His
first win of the season at Mondello Park - in the 13th round - marked
the start of an impressive feat of catching up. Point for point, the
17-year-old clawed his way up to his compatriot Sam Bird and ultimately
achieved his third season's win in the final to relegate his rival into
second place.
- "The Formula
BMW UK Championship was open right up to the last race," says BMW
Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "Dean Smith earned the title
with his consistently good performance throughout the season."
- Euan Hankey (GBR)
and Barwell Motorsport Team also had plenty of cause for celebration.
With six class wins, the 18-year-old managed to prevail over Michael
Meadows (GBR) to secure the title of "Best Junior Driver of the
Year". Both Hankey and Meadows took part in the Formula BMW Education
and Coaching Programme in 2005. Smith's championship title win proves
that this scheme offers the young racing drivers the ideal preparation
for their future career. This year's champion was supported by BMW in
2004 and gathered valuable experience in his first season of Formula
racing. Just one year later he was able to reap the fruits of his labours
at Brands Hatch when he raised the championship trophy up in the air.
- For the next season
there are already numerous scholarship candidates in the starting blocks
waiting to follow in Smith's tyre tracks. But that is no easy prospect
with the British race tracks among the most challenging in the world.
The knowledge edge of experienced Formula BMW drivers is a clear advantage
- one that Smith used to great effect in the last season to clinch his
first major title in an as yet fledgling career.
- Winner of the Formula
BMW UK Championship.
Even beyond his involvement in the Formula BMW UK Championship, Dean
Smith spends a lot of time out on track since his main leisure pursuit
is karting. At the age of 13, the budding young driver from Wolverhampton
took his first kart ride and quickly earned a reputation as one of Britain's
biggest motor racing talents. Smith's thirst for knowledge has paid
off: in 2004 he took part in the Formula BMW Education and Coaching
Programme, internalised what he learnt and made steady progress.
- The key to winning
the title was undoubtedly the young man's unfailingly good performance.
Not only did he complete each race, but he took away championship points
from each of the 20 rounds. "This feels fantastic," said Smith
after his triumph in the season final, "and I want to thank the
team for the amazing job they have done for me." His proud father
Anthony gave him a bear hug: he and Dean's grandparents were rooting
for him at every race. To have claimed the title in the final race of
such an evenly balanced event as the Formula BMW UK Championship will
have given Smith a great deal of self- confidence for his next steps
up the career ladder.
- BMW scholarship
driver Euan Hankey already proved in his first year of Formula racing
that he has the confidence it takes to pull in titles. Over the last
season the young driver, who is planning to do a business degree, fought
an exciting duel with Michael Meadows. Both drivers claimed six wins
each in the Rookie class. After a third-placed finish in the penultimate
race of the season at Brands Hatch, it was Hankey who was hailed as
the early winner of the Rookie Cup. That means in the coming year he
will also be able to enjoy BMW's support and financial backing to the
tune of 35,000 pounds.
- An all-round sportsman,
Hankey takes pride and pleasure in representing his school on the hockey
pitch and the tennis court. On the football pitch, too, he cuts a good
figure. But his paramount passion is motor racing. He first got behind
the wheel of a kart at the age of nine - and immediately began raking
in wins. In 2005 he also drew attention to himself in the Formula BMW
UK Championship. Hankey already has his next major goal in his sights:
a good score in the Formula BMW World Final in Bahrain this December.
- USA : Review -
Champion profile - Statistics.
- Formula BMW USA
2005.
In all four Formula BMW series around the globe, the championship title
was not decided until the final. The situation before the last of 14
races in Formula BMW USA that was held at Road Atlanta ensured even
more excitement: Richard Philippe (FRA) of Team Autotecnica and Kevin
LaCroix (CAN), competing for AIM Autosport, launched into the concluding
race of the season with the same points tally. Robert Wickens (CAN),
the number three in the championship rankings, was also in with a chance
of winning the title for Team Apex Racing USA. But in the end Philippe
kept his nerve and crossed the line in second place to claim overall
victory.
- BMW Motorsport
Director Mario Theissen commented on the Frenchman's triumph: "Richard
Philippe has won the Formula BMW USA 2005 as a 15-year-old rookie. That
makes him the youngest Formula BMW Champion of all time. I congratulate
him!" But that wasn't all. Apart from overall victory, Philippe
- who is supported by BMW with a scholarship worth 40,000 US- Dollars,
also took the top podium slot in the Rookie class, in which it was LaCroix
again who gave him a hard time right until the end. There can hardly
be a more successful Formula racing debut than Philippe's in the 2005
season.
- For the second
Formula BMW USA season since the series launch in 2004, no fewer than
29 drivers lined up on the grid to vie for the crown on North America's
most traditional and taxing circuits. As in the previous year, the young
drivers made two appearances during a Formula One weekend: in Montreal
and Indianapolis. It was on the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway
that Philippe celebrated one of a total of three season wins and, along
with his fellow-competitors, was able to sniff the heady air of Formula
One.
- The Education and
Coaching Programme offered by BMW proved particularly successful in
Formula BMW USA. The top four drivers in the rankings - all of them
novices to Formula racing - took part in the seminars and put what they
learnt perfectly into practice in their race outings. Apart from Philippe,
LaCroix and Wickens, scholarship candidate Reed Stevens (USA) also managed
to secure a race win. Further victories went to James Davison (AUS)
and Edoardo Piscopo (ITA), who took to the podium three times. With
a season of exciting races and a truly heart stopping final, Formula
BMW USA was able to bear out the positive impressions from the previous
year and shore up its position as one of the leading entry-level Formula
series in North America.
- Winner Formula
BMW USA.
Kid brothers don't have an easy time of it. That goes for normal life,
but even more so for motor racing. Yet Richard Philippe has no need
to hide behind the achievements of his brother Nelson, three years his
senior, who races in the US American Champ Car Series. At the age of
just 15, the younger of the Philippe brothers went straight to the top
of Formula BMW USA in 2005, taking both the championship and the rookie
titles.
- "I've learnt
a great deal this year," said Philippe after his triumph. "When
I started out I wanted to win every single race. But I had to accept
this just wasn't possible, and so I concentrated on consistently finishing
the race and collecting points." The youngster who lives in Key
Biscane, Florida certainly did a brilliant job of that, completing 18
out of 20 races in the points. Only Robert Wickens, who scored in every
race, emerged as an even steadier scorer than Philippe.
- The Formula USA
champion sat in a kart for the first time at the age of just eight -
not in his French homeland, but in Argentina. Indeed, Philippe is quite
a globetrotter, having competed in various series in South America,
Europe and the USA. He speaks fluent French, English and Spanish, and
is already every inch the professional at his young age: you won't find
Philippe taking any undue risks in the cockpit.
- "I have a
healthy respect for all the tracks on which I race," the Team Autotecnica
driver says of his recipe for success. "Some may be more fun than
others, but in the end it doesn't really matter. I simply have to drive
as fast as I possibly can on every circuit." Perhaps it is this
approach that helped him deliver his best performance of the season
against the impressive Indianapolis backdrop. At the "Brickyard",
Philippe won one race and finished the other as runner-up - to the applause
of an F1-savvy crowd.
- To follow in his
brother's footsteps may initially have seemed a tall order to Philippe,
but his success in Formula BMW USA makes it incontrovertibly clear that
he is in a position to go his own way in motor racing. Their father
Terry will in future be able to delight in two high- speed sons with
tremendous potential.
- Asia : Review -
Champion profile - Statistics.
- Formula BMW Asia
2005.
Hardly another Asian country evinced such palpable trackside exuberance
last year as Bahrain. It wasn't just that Formula One was making its
second stop in the desert state: with Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa (Team
E-Rain), a Bahraini driver clinched an important title in international
Formula racing for the first time when the 24-year-old won the Formula
BMW Asia Championship.
- Formula BMW will
be serving up another highlight at the Bahrain International Circuit
this December, when drivers from around the world pit their skills against
each other in the Formula BMW World Final for a chance to win a Formula
One test drive. BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "It was
an exciting 2005 Formula BMW Asia season. Congratulations to the winner,
Salman Al Khalifa. I look forward to seeing him again at the Formula
BMW World Final in Bahrain."
- For the first time
in the history of Formula BMW Asia - which debuted in 2003 - the title
went to the Middle East. The inaugural year saw Chinese driver Ho-Pin
Tung take victory, while in 2004 the series was dominated by Marchy
Lee of Hong Kong. Al Khalifa made his mark last season by winning six
out of 14 races and taking seven pole positions. But he had to fend
off pressure from Team Meritus drivers Michael Patrizi (AUS) and Hamed
Al Fardan (BHN) right up to the final. In Shanghai these two drivers
were still in with a chance of winning the title.
- Patrizi, one of
six BMW supported drivers in the field, eventually finished as runner-up
in the final standings. In the class of first-timers, however, he was
ahead of the game and took the Rookie Cup. Both for Patrizi and for
Al Khalifa, the Bahrain and China events staged as part of the Formula
One programme were the highlights of the year. At his home event, Al
Khalifa kicked off the season with a win, while Patrizi won the final
race in the series at the Shanghai International Circuit, watched on
both occasions by the assembled crowds of motor racing experts.
- The 2005 season
once again proved that it would be difficult to find an entry-level
series with the same international spread as Formula BMW Asia. The field
of participants was made up of ten different nationalities and the aspiring
youngsters raced in six countries. Nail biting wheel-to- wheel duels
and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres delighted the crowds, who witnessed
nine different drivers ascending the podium. Formula BMW Asia had never
seen such an exciting and close-fought battle as in this last season.
- Winner Formula
BMW Asia.
Racing drivers like Salman Bin Rashid Al Khalifa are a breed apart.
- The Bahraini has
a charming personality, a consummate way of dealing with the media,
and at the age of 24 is already the representative of Asian motor racing.
These attributes, coupled with his own brand of modesty, have taken
"Sal" - as his friends in the paddock know him - to the top
of Formula BMW Asia in 2005. In this he demonstrated his ability to
return to his usual form even after difficult stretches. "Halfway
through the season I sat back a little on my achievements so far,"
Al Khalifa recalls. "But the fighting spirit of the other drivers
brought me back down to earth. It was a very balanced field this year,
which is why the championship wasn't decided until Shanghai."
- With two wins in
races eleven and twelve of the series at Japan's Autopolis, the ambassador
of the Formula BMW World Final managed to forge firmly ahead of his
rivals. A mature performance and two fifth places at the final event
in Shanghai were enough to secure him the championship title. In all,
Al Khalifa made it to the top rung of the podium six times. In his appearance
against a home backdrop at the Formula BMW World Final in December,
he wants to conclude the season with a further success before taking
the leap to Europe to try his luck in Formula 3.
- Like Al Khalifa,
Michael Patrizi also went through BMW's Education and Coaching Programme.
The first Australian ever to race in Formula BMW Asia was a fast learner,
and by the time he had clinched a double win in the Rookie class in
races five and six in Bira, Thailand, he had already set his sights
on the top slot among the Formula novices. It soon became obvious that
this racing driver from the small town of Kalgoorlie even had the resources
to be mixing it with the title contenders. But despite two wins - including
the last race in Shanghai - he ultimately had to settle for second place.
- That did nothing
to dampen Patrizi's delight at his successful debut in Formula BMW Asia.
"It's been a fantastic year," he said. "Travelling around
Asia was a great experience. It has been an important maturing process
for me - not just as a driver, but on a personal level as well."
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German FBMW champion: Sebastian Vettel |
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