1985 1000 km of Spa

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

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

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 Martini Racing Mauro Baldi
Bob Wollek
Riccardo Patrese
Lancia LC2 M 122
Ferrari 308C 3.0 L Turbo V8
2 C1 2 Rothmans Porsche Hans-Joachim Stuck
Derek Bell
Porsche 956 D 122
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
3 C1 7 Joest Racing Klaus Ludwig
Paolo Barilla
Porsche 956B D 121
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
4 C1 4 Martini Racing Riccardo Patrese
Alessandro Nannini
Lancia LC2 M 121
Ferrari 308C 3.0 L Turbo V8
5 C1 51 TWR Jaguar Martin Brundle
Mike Thackwell
Jaguar XJR-6 D 120
Jaguar 6.0 L V12
6 C1 8 Joest Racing Volker Weidler
"John Winter"
Marc Duez
Porsche 956 D 120
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
7 C1 34 Cosmik Racing Christian Danner
Costas Los
March 84G Y 114
Porsche Type-956 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
8 C1 26 Obermaier Racing Team Jürgen Lässig
Jesús Pareja
Hervé Regout
Porsche 956 G 113
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
9 C2 70 Spice Engineering Gordon Spice
Ray Bellm
Spice-Tiga GC85 A 112
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
10 C1 24 Cheetah Automobiles Switzerland Bernard de Dryver
Pierre Dieudonné
Claude Bourgoignie
Cheetah G604 D 110
Aston Martin-Tickford 5.3 L V8
11 C1 10 Porsche Kremer Racing Kees Kroesemeijer
Marc Surer
Porsche 956 G 108
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
12 C2 74 Gebhardt Motorsport Stanley Dickens
Frank Jelinski
John Graham
Gebhardt JC853 A 108
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8
13 C2 90 Jens Winther Denmark Jens Winther
David Mercer
URD C83 A 108
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
14 C2 79 Ecurie Ecosse Mike Wilds
David Leslie
Ecosse C285 A 99
Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 L V8
15 C2 82 Grifo Autoracing Pasquale Barberio
Maurizio Gellini
Alba AR3 D 98
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
16 C2 88 Ark Racing David Andrews
Max Payne
Chris Ashmore
Ceekar 83J A 94
Ford Cosworth BDX 2.0 L I4
17 C2 95 Roland Bassaler Roland Bassaler
Dominique Lacaud
Gérard Tremblay
Sauber SHS C6 A 94
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
18 C2 105 Jens Nakjaer Jens Nakjaer
Holger Knudsen
Nakjaer A 91
BMW 3.2 L I6
19 C2 98 Roy Baker Promotions Paul Smith
Mike Kimpton
Tiga GC285 A 88
Ford Cosworth BDT 1.8 L Turbo I4
20 GTX 160 Victor Racing Team "Victor"
Toni Palma
Luigi Taverna
Porsche 935 ? 87
Porsche Type-930 3.1 L Turbo Flat-6
21 C1 13 Primagaz Team Cougar Henri Pescarolo
Yves Courage
Cougar C12S M 87
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Flat-6
22
NC
B 158 Dieter Oster Jürgen Hammelmann
Jean-Paul Libert
Marco Micangeli
BMW M1 D 71
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
23
NC
C2 93 Automobiles Louis Descartes Louis Descartes
Jacques Heuclin
ALD 01 A 63
BMW M88 3.5 L I6
24
DNF
C2 80 Carma F.F. Carlo Facetti
Martino Finotto
Almo Coppelli
Alba AR6 A 95
Carma FF 1.9 L Turbo I4
25
DNF
C1 1 Rothmans Porsche Jochen Mass
Jacky Ickx
Porsche 962C D 77
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
26
DNF
C1 19 Brun Motorsport Stefan Bellof
Thierry Boutsen
Porsche 956B D 77
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
27
DNF
C1 18 Brun Motorsport Oscar Larrauri
Massimo Sigala
Porsche 956 D 70
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
28
DNF
C2 99 Roy Baker Promotions Jeremy Rossiter
Thorkild Thyrring
Tiga GC284 A 53
Ford Cosworth BDT 1.8 L Turbo I4
29
DNF
C2 97 Strandell Motors Anders Olofsson
Tryggve Gronvall
Strandell 85 A 38
Porsche Type-934 3.3 L Turbo Flat-6
30
DNF
C2 100 John Barlett Racing Richard Jones
Kenneth Leim
Max Cohen-Olivar
Chevron B62 A 33
Ford Cosworth DFL 3.3 L V8
31
DNF
C1 66 EMKA Productions Ltd. Tiff Needell
Steve O'Rourke
James Weaver
EMKA C83 D 19
Aston Martin-Tickford 5.3 L V8
32
DNF
C1 52 TWR Jaguar Hans Heyer
Jean-Louis Schlesser
Jaguar XJR-6 D 14
Jaguar 6.0 L V12
33
DNF
C2 107 Jean-Claude Ferrarin Jean-Claude Ferrarin
Lucien Rossiaud
Isolia 001 A 1
BMW M12 2.0 L I4
DNS C1 14 Richard Lloyd Racing Jonathan Palmer
David Hobbs
Porsche 956 GTi G -
Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
DNQ B 156 Raymond Touroul Raymond Touroul
Thierry Perrier
Philippe Dermagne
Porsche 911SC P -
Porsche 3.0 L Flat-6

Statistics

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

References

  1. "Motorsport Memorial - Stefan Bellof". Motorsport Memorial. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  2. "Drivers: Stefan Bellof". GrandPrix.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-01.
  3. "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
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