24 Hours of Business-Francorchamps in Touring mode: 1985 (BMW)

If the last three editions of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps were marked by an interesting battle between Jaguar and BMW, the previous edition of 1985 changed its appearance significantly.

So, if BMW continues to believe in its 635 CSI coupes, one of its flagship teams, in this case Eggenberger Motorsport, passes through the Volvo fold.

On the other hand, Tom Walkinshaw Racing, after having the success of placing Mazda RX7 in 1981 and Jaguar XJS in 1984, will try to do the same with Rover Vitesse and this with the help of Bastos and Texaco.

It’s a great start for Tom Walkinshaw, author of his 4th in a row!

The Scot started well but was overtaken, just before the end of the first lap, by the Volvo 240 Turbo of Gianfranco Brancatelli.

The other two official Rovers of Joosen and Schlesser moved up to 3rd and 4th places, ahead of the two BMW 635 CSI/Schnitzers of Ravaglia and Cecotto.

Pierre Dieudonné, for his part, received a minor caution and had to stop his Volvo 240 Turbo for a short time at the bus stop.

If after four hours of racing, No. 7 Rover of Joosen-Brundle was leading with only 4 seconds ahead of the BMW 635/Schnitzer of Ravaglia-Berger-Surer, on the other hand the hope of Rover n°6 of Hahne. -Schlesser-Allam, victim of a distribution error.

This turned out to be painful for the British clan as, shortly before nightfall, No. 1 Walkinshaw-Percy-Heyer had to give up the turn, betrayed by the same illness.

Walkinshaw, however, found refuge in the remaining Rover of Joosen-Brundle, at the expense of Marc Duez, the native who had to give up his seat.

Ravaglia’s BMW/Schnitzer spent the first six hours leading the event ahead of the Rover of Joosen-Brundle-Walkinshaw and the Volvo of Brancatelli-Lindström-Müller.

Luck, however, did not smile on the Rover/Bastos Texaco as various problems caused the n°7 to slip to 6th place early in the morning, a respectable distance from the BMW/Schnitzer of Ravaglia-Berger-Surer and Quester-Cecotto-Oestreich who continued crawl forward.

The Volvo/Eggenberger of Brancatelli-Lindström-Müller and Dieudonné-Rossi-Theys took 3rd and 4th ahead of the BMW 635 CSI/Brun Motorsport trio of Boutsen-Brun-Grohs, who did a great job. Alas, the fuel pump of the decorated coupe in No. 21 died during the morning, depriving these excellent workers of the election results.

The surviving Rover ended up throwing in the towel, a victim of the same breakdown as its younger sisters.

With both Volvos slowed by suspension problems, the royal road opened up for BMW/Schnitzer. And the rain that fell, at the very end of the event, did not in any way hinder the forward movement of Charly Lamm’s troops.

Having completed 500 laps, Roberto Ravaglia, Gerhard Berger and Marc Surer finally won by four laps ahead of their teammates Dieter Quester, Johnny Cecotto and Markus Oestreich.

The Volvo 240 Turbo/Eggenberger Motorsport of Gianfranco Brancatelli- Thomas Lindström- Siggi Müller and Pierre Dieudonné- Carlo Rossi- Didier Theys, respectively 3rd and 4th, gave the best overall performance, moreover for the first participation in setting this clock two. mechanics for a very strict test.

Winners a few weeks earlier in the equally grueling 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, Germans Axel Felder, Jürgen Hamelmann and Robert Walterscheid-Müller (BMW 635 CSI/AutoBudde), a brilliant 5th, achieved another good result.

Le Top 8 is completed alongside…BMW 635 CSI/CiBiEmme de Grano-Micangeli-Micangeli and Bavaria Automobiles from Belmondo-Hesnault-Feitler et Ballot-Léna-Metge-Andruet.

Very little success, on the other hand, for the 635 CSI/Belga competition organized by Juma Racing. The #23 of Winklhock-Regout-Gartner and the #24 of the Martin brothers and Gordon Spice were both forced to retire early without an opportunity to make an appearance.

For his part, Pascal Witmeur once again hit the headlines by lining up, along with former motorcycle world champion, Barry Sheene and Michel Delcourt, in a Toyota Supra sponsored by…Jermaine Jackson. The great adventure ended, unfortunately, in the middle of the night following engine failure.

In Division 2, the Mercedes 190/Snobeck Racing Service of Snobeck-Lapeyre-Cudini revived the debates, for a while taking 6th place overall (!), but an oil pressure problem ended its deception.

And, as usual, it was Alfa Romeo that led, the GTV 6/Luigi Racing of Georges Cremer-Giorgio Francia-Guy Pirenne, otherwise took 9th place in the standings, winning by 8 laps at the Jolly Club of Cipriani- Siena-Cipolli.

Finally, in Category 1, it was the VW Golf GTI/RAS Sport of Ripolles-Romero-Rutten that narrowly beat the Toyota Corolla of Bychl-Micangeli-Lohmann.

If BMW achieved a double signature success placing six of its 635 CSI coupes in the Top 8, surprisingly the Munich manufacturer did not shine during the rest of the championship games, leaving Volvo and Rover to share the victory.

With six wins, Gianfranco Brancatelli and Thomas Lindström won the drivers’ title ahead of the Walkinshaw-Percy pair while Alfa Romeo, once again, took the constructors’ crown.