In all four Formula BMW series around the globe, the championship title was not decided until the final. The situation before the last of 14 races in Formula BMW USA that was held at Road Atlanta ensured even more excitement: Richard Philippe (FRA) of Team Autotecnica and Kevin LaCroix (CAN), competing for AIM Autosport, launched into the concluding race of the season with the same points tally. Robert Wickens (CAN), the number three in the championship rankings, was also in with a chance of winning the title for Team Apex Racing USA. But in the end Philippe kept his nerve and crossed the line in second place to claim overall victory.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen commented on the Frenchman’s triumph: "Richard Philippe has won the Formula BMW USA 2005 as a 15-year-old rookie. That makes him the youngest Formula BMW Champion of all time. I congratulate him!" But that wasn’t all. Apart from overall victory, Philippe – who is supported by BMW with a scholarship worth 40,000 US-Dollars, also took the top podium slot in the Rookie class, in which it was LaCroix again who gave him a hard time right until the end. There can hardly be a more successful Formula racing debut than Philippe’s in the 2005 season.
For the second Formula BMW USA season since the series launch in 2004, no fewer than 29 drivers lined up on the grid to vie for the crown on North America’s most traditional and taxing circuits. As in the previous year, the young drivers made two appearances during a Formula One weekend: in Montreal and Indianapolis. It was on the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway that Philippe celebrated one of a total of three season wins and, along with his fellow-competitors, was able to sniff the heady air of Formula One.
The Education and Coaching Programme offered by BMW proved particularly successful in Formula BMW USA. The top four drivers in the rankings – all of them novices to Formula racing – took part in the seminars and put what they learnt perfectly into practice in their race outings. Apart from Philippe, LaCroix and Wickens, scholarship candidate Reed Stevens (USA) also managed to secure a race win. Further victories went to James Davison (AUS) and Edoardo Piscopo (ITA), who took to the podium three times. With a season of exciting races and a truly heart stopping final, Formula BMW USA was able to bear out the positive impressions from the previous year and shore up its position as one of the leading entry-level Formula series in North America.
Winner Formula BMW USA.
Kid brothers don’t have an easy time of it. That goes for normal life, but even more so for motor racing. Yet Richard Philippe has no need to hide behind the achievements of his brother Nelson, three years his senior, who races in the US American Champ Car Series. At the age of just 15, the younger of the Philippe brothers went straight to the top of Formula BMW USA in 2005, taking both the championship and the rookie titles.
"I’ve learnt a great deal this year," said Philippe after his triumph. "When I started out I wanted to win every single race. But I had to accept this just wasn’t possible, and so I concentrated on consistently finishing the race and collecting points." The youngster who lives in Key Biscane, Florida certainly did a brilliant job of that, completing 18 out of 20 races in the points. Only Robert Wickens, who scored in every race, emerged as an even steadier scorer than Philippe.
The Formula USA champion sat in a kart for the first time at the age of just eight – not in his French homeland, but in Argentina. Indeed, Philippe is quite a globetrotter, having competed in various series in South America, Europe and the USA. He speaks fluent French, English and Spanish, and is already every inch the professional at his young age: you won’t find Philippe taking any undue risks in the cockpit.
"I have a healthy respect for all the tracks on which I race," the Team Autotecnica driver says of his recipe for success. "Some may be more fun than others, but in the end it doesn’t really matter. I simply have to drive as fast as I possibly can on every circuit." Perhaps it is this approach that helped him deliver his best performance of the season against the impressive Indianapolis backdrop. At the "Brickyard", Philippe won one race and finished the other as runner-up – to the applause of an F1-savvy crowd.
To follow in his brother’s footsteps may initially have seemed a tall order to Philippe, but his success in Formula BMW USA makes it incontrovertibly clear that he is in a position to go his own way in motor racing. Their father Terry will in future be able to delight in two high-speed sons with tremendous potential.
Formula BMW USA 2005.
Driver Laguna Seca Mid-Ohio MontréalF1 IndianapolisF1 Barber Motorsports Park Denver Road Atlanta Total
1. *Richard Philippe (FRA) - 20 1 20 8 - 15 20 15 10 4 15 8 15 151
2. *Kevin LaCroix (CAN) 20 12 20 - 20 - - 15 20 3 6 10 10 6 142
3. *Robert Wickens (CAN) 6 10 4 10 12 20 12 12 1 4 20 8 3 2 122
4. *Reed Stevens (USA) 15 3 6 - 10 15 - 8 6 - 12 - 15 20 110
5. Eduardo Piscopo (ITA) - - - 15 3 - 8 - - 20 10 20 20 12 108
6. James Davison (AUS) 8 8 15 4 - - 20 - 10 12 15 - 12 - 104
7. Maxime Soulet (BEL) 12 15 12 8 6 10 - 4 12 15 1 1 2 - 98
8. Rob Bunker (USA) 4 4 2 - - 8 - - 4 6 - 3 - 10 41
9. Tom Sutherland (USA) 2 - 3 4 4 3 10 8 1 - 4 - - 39
10. Race Johnson (USA) 1 1 - 6 - - 2 - 3 8 3 12 - 1 37
Rookie classification.
Driver Laguna Seca Mid-Ohio MontréalF1 IndianapolisF1 Barber Motorsports Park Denver Road Atlanta Total
1. *Richard Philippe (FRA) - 20 4 20 10 - 15 20 15 12 6 15 8 15 160
2. *Kevin LaCroix (CAN) 20 15 20 - 20 - - 15 20 4 8 10 10 8 150
3. *Robert Wickens (CAN) 8 12 8 10 15 20 12 12 3 6 20 8 3 3 140
4. *Reed Stevens (USA) 15 4 10 - 12 15 - 10 10 1 12 - 15 20 124
5. James Davison (AUS) 10 10 15 6 - - 20 - 12 15 15 2 12 - 117
6. Eduardo Piscopo (ITA) - - - 15 8 1 8 2 - 20 10 20 20 12 116
7. Rob Bunker (USA) 6 6 6 1 2 10 - - 8 8 1 4 - 10 62
8. Race Johnson (USA) 3 2 3 8 3 - 6 1 6 10 4 12 1 2 61
9. *Justin Moon (USA) 2 8 - 12 - - 4 4 4 - 2 3 6 - 45
10. John Zartarian (USA) 12 - 12 4 - - 3 - - - - - - 6 37
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
* BMW Junior
- Nikki Kemp, HONGKONG -
