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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.
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