1985 1000 km of Spa

File:Spa 1996.jpg

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

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.

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. Bellof's Porsche caught fire moments after the wreck. 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, although it was believed that he had actually died on impact. 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.

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