2005 World Rally Championship Explained

The 2005 World Rally Championship was the 33rd season in the FIA World Rally Championship. The season began on January 21 with the Monte-Carlo Rally and ended on November 13 with the Rally Australia.

In the drivers' world championship, Citroën Total's Sébastien Loeb successfully defended his title, finishing a record 56 points ahead of Subaru's Petter Solberg and Peugeot's Marcus Grönholm. Loeb also set several other records during the season. He won ten world rallies, beating the previous record of six held by him (2004) and Didier Auriol (1992). He also took six consecutive wins, beating Timo Salonen's 20-year-old record of four.^[1] Peugeot's Markko Märtin retired after his co-driver Michael Park was fatally injured in their crash at the Wales Rally GB.^[2]

Citroën took the manufacturers' title for the third year in a row, well ahead of Subaru and Ford. PSA Peugeot Citroën still went ahead with their plan to withdraw both Citroën and Peugeot from the series at the end of the season - although Citroën's departure later became a sabbatical as they spent the following year developing a new car for 2007. More blows to manufacturer involvement in the series followed when Mitsubishi and Škoda announced the withdrawal of their factory teams. However, the 2006 season would see Citroën and Škoda continue as the semi-works teams Kronos Citroën and Red Bull Škoda Team, respectively.

The video game was based on this season.

Regulation changes

Drivers' and co-drivers' helmets are now required to be equipped with a HANS device.

Calendar

The 2005 championship was contested over sixteen rounds in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Oceania.

Round	Dates	Rally	Support class
1	21–23 January	nowrap	Monte Carlo Rally	JWRC
2	11–13 February	Swedish Rally	PWRC
3	11–13 March	Rally Mexico	JWRC
4	7–10 April	Rally New Zealand	PWRC
5	28 April-1 May	nowrap	Rally d'Italia Sardegna	JWRC
6	13–15 May	Cyprus Rally	PWRC
7	3–5 June	Rally of Turkey	PWRC
8	23–26 June	Acropolis Rally	JWRC
9	14–17 July	Rally Argentina	PWRC
10	4–7 August	Rally Finland	JWRC
11	26–28 August	Rallye Deutschland	JWRC
12	15–18 September	Wales Rally GB	PWRC
13	nowrap	29 September-2 October	Rally Japan	PWRC
14	21–23 October	Tour de Corse	JWRC
15	27–30 October	Rally Catalunya	JWRC
16	10–13 November	Rally Australia	PWRC

Teams and drivers

World Rally Championship entries

Manufacturer teams
Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Co-Drivers	Rounds
Citroën Total	Citroën	Xsara WRC		1	Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	All
				2	François Duval	Stéphane Prévot	1–6
						Sven Smeets	9–16
					Carlos Sainz	Marc Marti	7–8
BP Ford World Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 04/06		3	Toni Gardemeister	Jakke Honkanen	All
				4	Roman Kresta	Jan Tomanek	1, 4–9, 11–16
					Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	2
					Daniel Solà	Xavier Amigò	3
					Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	10
				14	Roman Kresta	Jan Tománek	2–3, 10
					Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	5–8, 10, 12
					Daniel Solà	Xavier Amigò	11, 13–16
				15	Antony Warmbold	Damien Connolly	All
					nowrap	Luís Pérez Companc	nowrap	Jose Maria Volta	4, 9
Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 04/05		5	Petter Solberg	Phil Mills	All
				6	Stéphane Sarrazin	Patrick Pivato	1–2, 11, 14–15
					Chris Atkinson	Glenn Macneall	3–10, 12–13, 16
				16			2, 11, 14–15
					Stéphane Sarrazin	Patrick Pivato	5, 8, 12
Marlboro Peugeot Total	Peugeot	307 WRC		7	Marcus Grönholm	Timo Rautiainen	All
				8		Michael Park	1–12
						Mattias Andersson	13, 16
						Jean-Marc Fortin	14–15
				19	Daniel Carlsson	Mattias Andersson	2
				25	Sebastian Lindholm	Tomi Tuominen	10
	Mitsubishi	Lancer WRC 05		9	Harri Rovanperä	Risto Pietiläinen	All
				10	Gilles Panizzi	Hervé Panizzi	1, 3, 6, 13–14
					Gianluigi Galli	Guido D'Amore	nowrap	2, 4–5, 7–12, 15–16
				18			13–14
Škoda Motorsport	Škoda	Fabia WRC		11	Armin Schwarz	Klaus Wicha	1, 3–16
					Mattias Ekström	Stefan Bergman	2
				12	Alexandre Bengué	nowrap	Caroline Escudero-Bengué	1, 11, 14–15
					Janne Tuohino	Mikko Markkula	2, 4–8
					Jani Paasonen	Jani Vainikka	3, 9–10
					Colin McRae	Nicky Grist	12, 16
					Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	13
				17	Janne Tuohino	Mikko Markkula	10
					Jan Kopecký	Filip Schovánek	11, 14–15
				18	Jani Paasonen	Jani Vainikka	2, 8
Major entries not registered as manufacturers
OMV World Rally Team	Citroën	Xsara WRC		16	Manfred Stohl	Ilka Minor	1, 4–6, 8–12, 16
				17	Xavier Pons	Carlos del Barrio	8–12, 14–16
				21	Juuso Pykälistö	Mika Ovaskainen	5
Stobart VK Ford Rally Team	Ford	Focus RS WRC 04		17	Mark Higgins	Trevor Agnew	5, 8, 12
		Focus RS WRC 02		19	Matthew Wilson	Scott Martin	12
Hyundai Assan Motorsports	Hyundai	Hyundai Accent WRC		17	Serkan Yazici	Can Okan	7
				66	Ali Deveci	Mehmet Yazici	7
				68	Murat Akdilek	Ozden Yilmaz	7
M-Sport	Ford	Focus RS WRC 03		18	Mikko Hirvonen	Jarmo Lehtinen	2, 5, 8, 15
Bozian Racing	Peugeot	206 WRC		18	Daniel Carlsson	Mattias Andersson	6, 9
				19	Marcos Ligato	Ruben Garcia	9
				22	Nicolas Bernardi	Jean-Marc Fortin	11–12
				23	Xavier Pons	Oriol Juliá Pascual	1, 5
						Lucas Cruz	3
				61	Didier Auriol	Denis Giraudet	1
					Ricardo Triviño		3
						Claudio Busto	9
						Checo Salom	15
Equipe de France FFSA	Škoda	Fabia WRC		20	Nicolas Vouilloz	Patrick Pivato	14–15

JWRC Entries

No	Entrant	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Suzuki Sport Europe	Per-Gunnar Andersson	Jonas Andersson	Suzuki Ignis S1600	1, 3, 5, 8
				Suzuki Swift S1600	10–11, 15
32		Guy Wilks	Phil Pugh		10–11, 15
				Suzuki Ignis S1600	1, 3, 5, 8
33		Kosti Katajamäki	Timo Alanne		1, 5, 8, 10–11, 14–15
36		Urmo Aava	Kuldar Sikk		1, 5, 8, 10–11, 14–15
34	Fiat Abarth Motorsport	Mirco Baldacci	Giovanni Bernacchini	Fiat Punto S1600	1, 5, 8, 10–11, 14–15
35	Kronos Racing	Kris Meeke	Chris Patterson	Citroën C2 S1600	1, 5, 8
			Glenn Patterson		10–11, 14–15
41		Daniel Sordo	Marc Martí		1, 5, 10–11, 14–15
			Oriol Julià		8
37	Errepi Racing	Alan Scorcioni	Domenico Scorcioni	Suzuki Ignis S1600	15
			Silvio Stefanelli		1, 5, 8, 14
				Fiat Punto S1600	10
			Toni Moreno		11
38	Power Car Team	Luca Betti	Giovanni Agnese	Renault Clio S1600	1, 5, 8, 11, 14–15
					Piercarlo Capalongo	10
39	Autorel Sport	Luca Cecchettini	Massimo Daddoveri	Renault Clio S1600	1
				Fiat Punto S1600	3, 5, 8, 11
			Antonio Morassi		14–15
40	PH Sport	Conrad Rautenbach	Carl Williamson	Citroën Saxo S1600	3
				Citroën C2 S1600	5, 8, 10–11, 14–15
42	Trumf Rally Team	Pavel Valoušek	Pierangelo Scalvini	Suzuki Ignis S1600	1, 3, 5, 10–11
			Petr Starý		14–15
43	Jipocar Racing	Martin Prokop	Petr Gross	Suzuki Ignis S1600	1, 5, 8, 10–11, 14–15

PWRC entries

No	Entrant	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Rounds
31	Subaru Team Arai	Toshihiro Arai	Tony Sircombe	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 6–7, 13, 16
32	Ralliart Spain	Xavier Pons	Oriol Julià	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	2, 4, 6–7
33	Autotek Motorsport	Nasser Al-Attiyah	Chris Patterson	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 6–7, 9, 12, 16
34	Advan-Piaa Rally Team	Fumio Nutahara	Satoshi Hayashi	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	2, 4, 6–7, 13, 16
35	Team Proton Pert Malaysia	Karamjit Singh	John Bennie	Proton Pert	4, 6–7, 12
36	Subaru Argentina Rally Team	Marcos Ligato	Rubén Garcia	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 6–7, 12–13, 16
40		Gabriel Pozzo	Daniel Stillo		4, 6–7, 9, 13, 16
44		Sebastián Beltran	Edgardo Galindo		4, 6–7, 9, 13, 16
37	Top Run SRL	Mark Higgins	Trevor Agnew	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 6–7, 9
			Daniel Barritt		16
51		Brice Tirabassi	Matthieu Baumel		4, 6–7, 9, 12–13
38	Motoring Club	Fabio Frisiero	Giovanni Agnese	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 6–7, 9, 12
				Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	16
39	Millbrooks World Rally Team	Joakim Roman	Ragnar Spjuth	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 6–7, 9
			Anders Wallbom		12
41	OMV World Rally Team	Natalie Barratt	Carl Williamson	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII	4, 6–7, 13
			Kaj Lindström	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	12, 16
42	Villagra Racing	Federico Villagra	Javier Villagra	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	4, 6–7, 9, 13, 16
43	Kome Sport SRL	Angelo Medeghini	Barbara Capoferri	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	2, 4, 6, 9
				Subaru Impreza WRX STI	12, 16
45	Errani Team Group	Riccardo Errani	Stefano Casadio	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	2, 6–7, 12–13, 16
47	Aba Ba	Marcelo Recanate	Víctor Federer	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI	4
			Nalson Franco	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	6
			Mikael Johansson		7
48	Gerardo Rosselot Mujica	Luis Rosselot	Ricardo Rojas	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII	4, 6–7, 9, 13
49	Oman World Rally Team	Hamed Al-Wahaibi	David Senior	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	4, 6–7, 12–13, 16
50	Syms Rally Team	Aki Teiskonen	Miika Teiskonen	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	2, 4, 7, 12–13, 16

Results and standings

Drivers' championship

Driver MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS  Pts  1 Sébastien Loeb 1 Ret 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 1 Ret 127 2 Petter Solberg Ret 1 1 3 2 Ret 2 9 3 4 7 1 Ret 3 13 Ret 71 3 align=left nowrap Marcus Grönholm 5 Ret 2 2 3 Ret 3 4 2 1 3 Ret 1 Ret Ret Ret 71 4 align=left nowrap Toni Gardemeister 2 3 6 6 5 5 6 2 4 6 17 DSQ 6 2 14 Ret 58 5 Markko Märtin 4 2 3 5 4 3 5 8 6 3 4 Ret 53 6 François Duval Ret 12 Ret 4 11 Ret 7 8 2 2 4 Ret 2 1 47 7 Harri Rovanperä 7 4 5 Ret Ret 7 10 6 5 7 10 4 5 10 10 2 39 8 Roman Kresta 8 8 Ret DNS 6 6 7 Ret 11 23 6 6 7 5 5 6 29 9 Manfred Stohl 6 9 9 2 20 8 Ret Ret 5 3 22 10 Mikko Hirvonen Ret Ret 5 5 Ret 3 14 11 Gianluigi Galli 7 8 Ret 8 7 Ret Ret 5 13 Ret 9 Ret 5 14 12 Chris Atkinson 19 Ret 7 18 10 24 Ret 9 Ret 11 38 3 Ret 9 4 13 13 Carlos Sainz 4 3 11 14 Henning Solberg 5 15 4 11 Ret 9 10 9 15 Gilles Panizzi 3 8 11 11 Ret 7 16 Xavier Pons Ret 38 10 13 Ret 34 17 10 10 12 9 11 7 4 Ret 7 17 align=left nowrap Stéphane Sarrazin 14 13 12 13 8 Ret 4 Ret 6 18 Antony Warmbold 10 11 7 11 7 Ret 9 Ret 12 Ret DNS 12 9 13 7 Ret 6 19 Daniel Carlsson 6 Ret 8 Ret 14 15 DNS 8 Ret 5 20 Nicolas Bernardi Ret Ret 8 6 4 21 Alexandre Bengué 9 Ret 6 Ret 3 22 Colin McRae 7 Ret 2 23 Daniel Solà Ret 12 Ret Ret Ret 7 2 24 Juuso Pykälistö DNS 8 DNS 1 25 Mark Higgins Ret Ret 10 Ret 44 Ret DSQ DNS 8 10 1 26 Jan Kopecký 37 Ret 12 8 1 27 Armin Schwarz Ret 9 10 Ret 13 Ret 18 16 11 Ret 14 10 Ret 11 8 1 Driver MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS  Pts

Manufacturers' championship

Manufacturer MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS Points 1 Citroën 1 1 Ret 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 2 1 1 Ret 188 2 Ret 8 Ret 4 7 Ret 4 3 7 8 2 2 4 Ret 2 1 2 Peugeot 7 5 Ret 2 2 3 Ret 3 4 2 1 3 Ret 1 Ret Ret Ret 135 8 4 2 3 5 4 2 5 7 6 3 4 Ret 8 7 4 Ret 3 Ford 3 2 3 6 6 5 3 6 2 4 6 10 Ret 6 2 8 Ret 104 4 7 5 Ret Ret 6 4 7 Ret 9 5 6 5 7 5 3 5 4 Subaru 5 Ret 1 1 3 2 Ret 2 8 3 4 7 1 Ret 3 7 Ret 97 6 9 9 Ret 7 9 7 11 Ret 8 Ret 8 9 3 4 Ret 3 5 Mitsubishi 9 6 4 5 Ret Ret 5 9 5 5 7 9 4 5 8 5 2 76 10 3 6 7 8 Ret 8 8 6 Ret Ret 5 8 10 Ret Ret 4 6 Škoda 11 Ret 7 8 9 Ret 9 Ret 9 10 9 Ret 7 9 Ret 6 6 21 12 8 Ret 9 Ret 8 6 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Ret 6 Ret Ret Manufacturer MON SWE MEX NZL ITA CYP TUR GRE ARG FIN GER GBR JPN FRA ESP AUS Points

JWRC Drivers' championship

Driver MON MEX ITA GRC FIN GER FRA ESP  Pts  1 Dani Sordo 4 1 Ret 1 1 2 1 53 2 Guy Wilks 7 1 6 2 3 3 Ret 35 3 Kris Meeke 1 3 6 7 2 8 7 32 4 Urmo Aava Ret 2 3 2 Ret 4 4 32 5 Kosti Katajamäki 2 Ret 4 Ret 5 3 2 31 6 align=left nowrap Per-Gunnar Andersson 6 2 5 1 Ret 4 Ret 30 7 Mirco Baldacci 10 Ret 5 5 7 1 3 26 8 Luca Betti 5 4 Ret 4 6 Ret Ret 17 9 Martin Prokop 9 7 7 6 Ret 7 5 13 10 Luca Cecchettini Ret 3 Ret Ret 9 6 8 10 11 Pavel Valoušek 8 4 9 Ret 8 Ret 6 10 12 Conrad Rautenbach Ret 8 8 8 Ret 5 Ret 7 13 Alan Scorcioni 3 Ret 9 Ret Ret Ret Ret 6 Driver MON MEX ITA GRC FIN GER FRA ESP  Pts

PWRC Drivers' championship

Driver SWE NZL CYP TUR ARG GBR JPN AUS  Pts  1 Toshihiro Arai 1 2 7 1 1 1 50 2 Nasser Al-Attiyah 4 5 3 1 3 5 35 3 Marcos Ligato 3 3 2 2 4 9 33 4 align=left nowrap Fumio Nutahara 5 7 6 14 2 4 22 5 Xavier Pons 4 1 10 4 20 6 Aki Teiskonen Ret Ret 6 1 3 Ret 19 7 Angelo Medeghini 2 Ret 10 2 6 19 8 Sebastián Beltran 10 2 7 6 5 10 17 9 Fabio Frisiero 3 Ret 12 4 5 7 17 10 Gabriel Pozzo Ret 4 Ret 5 Ret 3 15 11 Hamed Al-Wahaibi 8 Ret 5 4 6 Ret 13 12 Brice Tirabassi 9 1 8 Ret 11 13 Mark Higgins Ret Ret Ret 13 Ret 2 6 14 Federico Villagra 6 8 9 Ret Ret 6 7 15 Riccardo Errani 6 9 11 8 7 8 7 16 Natalie Barratt 12 Ret 15 7 Ret 11 2 Driver SWE NZL CYP TUR ARG GBR JPN AUS Pts

Events

Round	Rally name	Podium drivers (Finishing time)	Podium cars
1	/ Monte Carlo Rally (21–23 January) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (4h:13m:05.6s) Toni Gardemeister (4h:16m:03.9s) Gilles Panizzi (4h:16m:45.7s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 04 Mitsubishi Lancer WRC
2	Swedish Rally (11–13 February) — Results and report	Petter Solberg (3h:00m:52.1s) Markko Märtin (3h:03m:03.2s) Toni Gardemeister (3h:04m:06.8s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2004 Peugeot 307 WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 04
3	Rally Mexico (11–13 March) — Results and report	Petter Solberg (3h:41m:06.2s) Marcus Grönholm (3h:41m:40.7s) Markko Märtin (3h:42m:44.5s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2005 Peugeot 307 WRC Peugeot 307 WRC
4	Rally New Zealand (8–10 April) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (3h:34m:51.6s) Marcus Grönholm (3h:35m:41.4s) Petter Solberg (3h:36m:00.3s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 307 WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2005
5	Rally d'Italia Sardegna (29 April–1 May) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (4h:06m:33.7s) Petter Solberg (4h:07m:33.3s) Marcus Grönholm (4h:09m:41.0s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2005 Peugeot 307 WRC
6	Cyprus Rally (13–15 May) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (5h:02m:29.4s) Manfred Stohl (5h:06m:38.9s) Markko Märtin (5h:07m:11.3s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 307 WRC
7	Rally of Turkey (2–5 June) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (4h:21m:48.0s) Petter Solberg (4h:22m:47.6s) Marcus Grönholm (4h:23m:03.3s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2005 Peugeot 307 WRC
8	Acropolis Rally (23–26 June) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (4h:12m:53.7s) Toni Gardemeister (4h:14m:29.9s) Carlos Sainz (4h:15m:04.8s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 04 Citroën Xsara WRC
9	Rally Argentina (14–17 July) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (3h:55m:36.5s) Marcus Grönholm (3h:56m:02.5s) Petter Solberg (3h:56m:41.7s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 307 WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2005
10	Rally Finland (4–7 August) — Results and report	Marcus Grönholm (2h:54m:11.0s) Sébastien Loeb (2h:55m:17.7s) Markko Märtin (2h:55m:46.6s)	Peugeot 307 WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 307 WRC
11	Rallye Deutschland (25–27 August) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (3h:27m:13.2s) François Duval (3h:27m:50.6s) Marcus Grönholm (3h:29m:18.0s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Peugeot 307 WRC
12	Wales Rally GB (16–18 September) — Results and report	Petter Solberg (2h:45m:57.8s) François Duval (2h:47m:15.2s) Sébastien Loeb (2h:47m:15.7s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 2005 Citroën Xsara WRC Citroën Xsara WRC
13	Rally Japan (30 September–2 October) — Results and report	Marcus Grönholm (3h:23m:32.0s) Sébastien Loeb (3h:26m:54.1s) Chris Atkinson (3h:28m:12.0s)	Peugeot 307 WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 2005
14	Tour de Corse (21–23 October) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (3h:35m:46.7s) Toni Gardemeister (3h:37m:38.4s) Petter Solberg (3h:38m:28.7s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 04 Subaru Impreza WRC
15	Rally Catalunya (28–30 October) — Results and report	Sébastien Loeb (3h:31m:07.0s) François Duval (3h:32m:28.9s) Mikko Hirvonen (3h:33m:53.7s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Citroën Xsara WRC Ford Focus RS WRC 03
16	Rally Australia (10–13 November) — Results and report	François Duval (3h:19m:55.0s) Harri Rovanperä (3h:20m:47.9s) Manfred Stohl (3h:21m:28.0s)	Citroën Xsara WRC Mitsubishi Lancer WRC Citroën Xsara WRC

Notes

1. Sébastien Loeb secured the drivers' championship title in Japan.^[3]
2. Citroën secured the manufacturers' championship in Spain.^[4]

External links

• FIA World Rally Championship 2005 at ewrc-results.com
• 2005 season at World Rally Archive

Notes and References

1. Web site: Stuart. Greg. Seb Loeb’s first and last Rally Argentina wins. Red Bull. 8 February 2016. 8 April 2024.
2. Web site: Rally star relives 100mph smash. WalesOnline. 16 December 2005. 8 April 2024.
3. News: Moffitt. Alastair. Loeb ties up second title as Solberg hits rock bottom. The Guardian. 3 October 2005. 8 April 2024.
4. News: Loeb leads Citroen to Rally title. BBC Sport. 30 October 2005. 8 April 2024.