BMW Motorrad PowerCup finale in Valencia

The final round of the 2005 BMW Motorrad PowerCup series at Valencia was
another fantastic battle, as four riders fought to clinch second place in the
championship behind new champion, Roberto Panichi. The Italian rider had won
the 2005 title at the penultimate round of the series at Brno in the Czech
Republic.

Local hero Arturo Tizon took pole position and looked the early favourite to
claim the runner-up spot and the keys to a brand new BMW X3. But the Spaniard
made a poor start to Sunday's 18-lap race and had dropped to fourth by the
first corner. As he desperately tried to clamber back up to the lead he tried
too hard and ended up in the gravel - eventually rejoining the race in 16th
position.

Less than a lap later the race took another dramatic twist when the leader Gwen
Giabbani crashed out of contention. He later blamed his visit to the gravel
trap on a missed gear.

The leading group now comprised Sergio Fuertes, Sebastien Legrelle, Roberto
Panichi and Mauro Lucchiari, with Stephane Mertens in hot pursuit. The man to
watch though was Tizon who was urgently trying to get back to the front. He
claimed the fastest lap of the race (1min 42.596) before crashing out for good
on lap 13. Maybe the pressure of racing in both the 250GP and PowerCup on the
same day was too much for the Spaniard?

So it was left to another local hero - Sergio Fuertes - to claim his second win
of the season and secure third place in the championship. Despite a late charge
Mertens had to settle for second in the race and Mauro Lucchiari took third,
denying his team mate Panichi a podium finish for only the second time this
season.

This result meant that Sebastien Legrelle got the 11 points he needed to win
the new BMW X3. Fuertes took home an HP2 Enduro for finishing third overall in
the 2005 championship.

"I never believed I could get third in the championship; the maths showed I
could do it but it was a long shot. It's good to win at home in Spain in front
of the massive crowd" said Sergio Fuertes. "I'm sorry for Tizon, he had bad
luck today but I've had bad luck too this season."

The successful PowerCup racers weren't the only riders to drive home in brand
new BMWs on Sunday night, as MotoGP star Sete Gibernau took home a BMW M5. His
pole position on Saturday confirmed him as the fastest man in qualifying over
the entire 2005 season and the winner of the BMW Best Qualifier Award.

Ends

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