1985 1000 km of Spa

Layout of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (1981-1993, 1995–2003)

The 1985 1000 km Spa was the seventh round of the 1985 World Endurance Championship. It took place at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on September 1, 1985. In the first half of the race the two leading drivers collided, which resulted in the death of defending Drivers Champion Stefan Bellof. The race organisers ended the race early, thus allowing the Martini Racing Lancia of drivers Mauro Baldi, Bob Wollek, and Riccardo Patrese to win their only victory of the year. It was also the last victory scored by the Lancia LC2.

Bellof accident

[edit]

The 1000 km of Spa was held only three weeks after Manfred Winkelhock was killed in an accident at the series' previous round, the 1000 km of Mosport. Halfway through the race, defending Drivers Champion Stefan Bellof in the Brun Motorsport Porsche 956 was battling for the race lead with 1982 and 1983 Drivers Champion Jacky Ickx in the Rothmans Porsche 962C. Ickx led Bellof out of the La Source hairpin and down the front stretch into the Eau Rouge corner, starting the 78th lap of the race. Both drivers had only just been handed their cars from their teammates during a pit stop five laps earlier.[1]

Entering the left kink at the bottom of the hill, Bellof moved to the left of Ickx in an attempt to set up a pass for the immediate right-hander up the hill. Bellof's right front came into contact with Ickx's left rear, and both drivers spun up to the left up the hill, impacting the barriers. Ickx's car hit the wall on the right rear side, while Bellof went straight into the barriers, breaking through and hitting a secondary wall.[1][2] Bellof's Porsche caught fire moments after the wreck.[3] Ickx, able to climb from his car, attempted to aid safety workers in helping Bellof. During the caution period, members of the Brun team also arrived to aid in the rescue.

Although the fire was extinguished and the driver extracted from the wreckage within forty minutes, Stefan Bellof was pronounced dead only ten minutes later after he had reached the track hospital,[3] although it was believed that he had actually died on impact.[2] Out of respect for Bellof, the race organisers chose to end the event earlier than planned. The entire incident was recorded on an in-car camera that Ickx's 962C was carrying. Even after the accident, the camera continued to work, and was pointed in the direction of Bellof's wreckage.[3]

Official results

[edit]

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 90% of the winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 C1 5 Italy Martini Racing Italy Mauro Baldi
France Bob Wollek
Italy Riccardo Patrese
Lancia LC2 M 122
Ferrari 308C 3.0 L Turbo V8
2 C1 2 Germany Rothmans Porsche Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
United Kingdom Derek Bell
Porsche 956 D 122
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
3 C1 7 Germany Joest Racing Germany Klaus Ludwig
Italy Paolo Barilla
Porsche 956B D 121
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
4 C1 4 Italy Martini Racing Italy Riccardo Patrese
Italy Alessandro Nannini
Lancia LC2 M 121
Ferrari 308C 3.0 L Turbo V8
5 C1 51 United Kingdom TWR Jaguar United Kingdom Martin Brundle
New Zealand Mike Thackwell
Jaguar XJR-6 D 120
Jaguar 6.0 L V12
6 C1 8 Germany Joest Racing Germany Volker Weidler
Germany "John Winter"
Belgium Marc Duez
Porsche 956 D 120
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
7 C1 34 United Kingdom Cosmik Racing Germany Christian Danner
Greece Costas Los
March 84G Y 114
Porsche Type-956 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
8 C1 26 Germany Obermaier Racing Team Germany Jürgen Lässig
Spain Jesús Pareja
Belgium Hervé Regout
Porsche 956 G 113
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
9 C2 70 United Kingdom Spice Engineering United Kingdom Gordon Spice
United Kingdom Ray Bellm
Spice-Tiga GC85 A 112
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
10 C1 24 Switzerland Cheetah Automobiles Switzerland Belgium Bernard de Dryver
Belgium Pierre Dieudonné
Belgium Claude Bourgoignie
Cheetah G604 D 110
Aston Martin-Tickford 5.3 L V8
11 C1 10 Germany Porsche Kremer Racing Netherlands Kees Kroesemeijer
Switzerland Marc Surer
Porsche 956 G 108
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
12 C2 74 Germany Gebhardt Motorsport Sweden Stanley Dickens
Germany Frank Jelinski
Canada John Graham
Gebhardt JC853 A 108
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8
13 C2 90 Denmark Jens Winther Denmark Denmark Jens Winther
United Kingdom David Mercer
URD C83 A 108
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
14 C2 79 United Kingdom Ecurie Ecosse United Kingdom Mike Wilds
United Kingdom David Leslie
Ecosse C285 A 99
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8
15 C2 82 Italy Grifo Autoracing Italy Pasquale Barberio
Italy Maurizio Gellini
Alba AR3 D 98
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
16 C2 88 United Kingdom Ark Racing United Kingdom David Andrews
United Kingdom Max Payne
United Kingdom Chris Ashmore
Ceekar 83J A 94
Ford Cosworth BDX 2.0 L I4
17 C2 95 France Roland Bassaler France Roland Bassaler
France Dominique Lacaud
France Gérard Tremblay
Sauber SHS C6 A 94
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
18 C2 105 Denmark Jens Nakjaer Denmark Jens Nakjaer
Denmark Holger Knudsen
Nakjaer A 91
BMW 3.2 L I6
19 C2 98 United Kingdom Roy Baker Promotions United Kingdom Paul Smith
United Kingdom Mike Kimpton
Tiga GC285 A 88
Ford Cosworth BDT 1.8 L Turbo I4
20 GTX 160 Italy Victor Racing Team Italy "Victor"
Italy Toni Palma
Italy Luigi Taverna
Porsche 935 ? 87
Porsche Type-930 3.1 L Turbo Flat-6
21 C1 13 France Primagaz Team Cougar France Henri Pescarolo
France Yves Courage
Cougar C12S M 87
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Flat-6
22
NC
B 158 Germany Dieter Oster Germany Jürgen Hammelmann
Belgium Jean-Paul Libert
Italy Marco Micangeli
BMW M1 D 71
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
23
NC
C2 93 France Automobiles Louis Descartes France Louis Descartes
France Jacques Heuclin
ALD 01 A 63
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
24
DNF
C2 80 Italy Carma F.F. Italy Carlo Facetti
Italy Martino Finotto
Italy Almo Coppelli
Alba AR6 A 95
Carma FF 1.9 L Turbo I4
25
DNF
C1 1 Germany Rothmans Porsche Germany Jochen Mass
Belgium Jacky Ickx
Porsche 962C D 77
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
26
DNF
C1 19 Switzerland Brun Motorsport Germany Stefan Bellof
Belgium Thierry Boutsen
Porsche 956B D 77
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
27
DNF
C1 18 Switzerland Brun Motorsport Argentina Oscar Larrauri
Italy Massimo Sigala
Porsche 956 D 70
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
28
DNF
C2 99 United Kingdom Roy Baker Promotions United Kingdom Jeremy Rossiter
Denmark Thorkild Thyrring
Tiga GC284 A 53
Ford Cosworth BDT 1.8 L Turbo I4
29
DNF
C2 97 Sweden Strandell Motors Sweden Anders Olofsson
Sweden Tryggve Gronvall
Strandell 85 A 38
Porsche Type-934 3.3 L Turbo Flat-6
30
DNF
C2 100 United Kingdom John Barlett Racing United Kingdom Richard Jones
Sweden Kenneth Leim
Morocco Max Cohen-Olivar
Chevron B62 A 33
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
31
DNF
C1 66 United Kingdom EMKA Productions Ltd. United Kingdom Tiff Needell
United Kingdom Steve O'Rourke
United Kingdom James Weaver
EMKA C83 D 19
Aston Martin-Tickford 5.3 L V8
32
DNF
C1 52 United Kingdom TWR Jaguar Germany Hans Heyer
France Jean-Louis Schlesser
Jaguar XJR-6 D 14
Jaguar 6.0 L V12
33
DNF
C2 107 France Jean-Claude Ferrarin France Jean-Claude Ferrarin
France Lucien Rossiaud
Isolia 001 A 1
BMW M12 2.0 L I4
DNS C1 14 United Kingdom Richard Lloyd Racing United Kingdom Jonathan Palmer
United Kingdom David Hobbs
Porsche 956 GTi G -
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNQ B 156 France Raymond Touroul France Raymond Touroul
France Thierry Perrier
France Philippe Dermagne
Porsche 911SC P -
Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6

Statistics

[edit]
  • Pole Position - #4 Martini Racing - 2:05.91
  • Fastest Lap - #1 Rothmans Porsche - 2:10.73
  • Average Speed - 169.335 km/h

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Motorsport Memorial - Stefan Bellof". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  2. ^ a b "Drivers: Stefan Bellof". GrandPrix.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  3. ^ a b c "1985 Spa crash Bellof - Ickx". Retrieved 2008-07-01.


World Sportscar Championship
Previous race:
1985 1000 km of Mosport
1985 season Next race:
1985 1000 km of Brands Hatch