The 2012 International V8 Supercar Championship (often simplified to the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the fourteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the sixteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 1 March at the Clipsal 500 and concluded on 2 December at the Homebush Street Circuit.
Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight Race Engineering started the season as the defending drivers' and teams' champions.
Whincup successfully defended his drivers' championship, wrapping up the title at Winton, with Triple Eight Race Engineering also wrapping up the teams' championship. Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes took second in the points standings from Mark Winterbottom of Ford Performance Racing.
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the 2012 championship.
Championship entries Endurance entriesManufacturerModelTeamDriver nameRounds Ford Falcon FG Tony D'Alberto Racing 3 Tony D'Alberto All Dale Wood Vitantonio Liuzzi Stone Brothers Racing 4 Lee Holdsworth All Craig Baird Simon Pagenaud 9 All Luke Youlden Ford Performance Racing 5 Mark Winterbottom All Steven Richards Will Power 6 Will Davison All John McIntyre Mika Salo Triple F Racing () 12 Dean Fiore All Matthew Halliday Gianni Morbidelli Dick Johnson Racing Steven Johnson All Allan Simonsen Max Papis James Moffat All Alex Davison Peter Kox 47 Tim Slade All Andrew Thompson David Brabham Paul Morris Motorsport () 49 Steve Owen All Paul Morris Boris Said Rod Nash Racing () David Reynolds All Dean Canto Nick Heidfeld Holden Triple Eight Race Engineering 1 Jamie Whincup All Paul Dumbrell Sébastien Bourdais 888 Craig Lowndes All Warren Luff Richard Lyons Holden Racing Team 2 Garth Tander All Nick Percat Ryan Briscoe 22 James Courtney All Darren Turner Kelly Racing 7 Todd Kelly 1–11 Tim Blanchard Tim Blanchard 12–15 Marco Andretti 11 Karl Reindler All Daniel Gaunt Franck Montagny 15 Rick Kelly All David Russell Graham Rahal 51 Greg Murphy 1, 3–5, 10–15 Owen Kelly Justin Wilson David Russell 2, 6rowspan=2 colspan=2 Jacques Villeneuve 7–9 Brad Jones Racing 8 Jason Bright All Andrew Jones Stéphane Sarrazin 14 Fabian Coulthard All David Besnard Nicolas Minassian Tekno Autosports 19 Jonathon Webb All Scott McLaughlin Marc Lieb 91 Michael Patrizi All Jonny Reid Lucas di Grassi Britek Motorsport () 21 David Wall All Chris Pither Jamie Campbell-Walter Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport 30 Taz Douglas All Scott Pye Mike Conway Garry Rogers Motorsport 33 1–11, 13–15 Jack Perkins Greg Ritter 12 Ricky Taylor Scott McLaughlin 15colspan=2 34 Michael Caruso All Greg Ritter James Hinchcliffe Walkinshaw Racing () 66 Russell Ingall All Christian Klien Peter Dumbreck Wildcard entries Holden Commodore VE Kelly Racing 23 11 Cam Waters Jesse Dixon
Team changes Dick Johnson Racing expanded to three cars with Dean Fiore moving his Triple F Racing franchise to become a satellite team within DJR. Under the terms of the arrangement, Fiore would continue to use the No. 12 from the Triple F REC with Jim Beam sponsoring he and Steven Johnson, while James Moffat would acquire Norton as major sponsor for the No. 18 car. DJR later announced a fourth car by securing a lease of a Paul Morris Motorsport owned Racing Entitlement Contract with Steve Owen being confirmed as the driver.
Jonathon Webb's Tekno Autosports switched from running Ford Falcons to Holden Commodores. The team expanded to a two-car operation, leasing one of the Racing Entitlement Contracts owned by Paul Morris Motorsport. West Australian driver Michael Patrizi joined the team after driving in Carrera Cup in 2011.
Driver changes Fabian Coulthard left Walkinshaw Racing and joined Brad Jones Racing, replacing Jason Bargwanna. Bargwanna was unable to find a drive with another team. Russell Ingall moved from Paul Morris Motorsport to Walkinshaw Racing, replacing Coulthard.
Alex Davison was also unable to secure a full-time drive for the 2012 season, and returned to the Australian Carrera Cup Championship. He was replaced at Stone Brothers by Lee Holdsworth, who left Garry Rogers Motorsport. This led to DTM, A1GP, Le Mans and Formula One test driver Alexandre Prémat joining Garry Rogers Motorsport.
Paul Dumbrell retired from full-time driving and joined Triple Eight Race Engineering as an endurance co-driver. David Reynolds left Kelly Racing to replace Dumbrell. Karl Reindler then joined Kelly Racing after two seasons with Britek Motorsport. David Wall joined Brad Jones Racing to replace Reindler after competing with the team as an endurance co-driver during the 2011 season.
Warren Luff left Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, citing the team's uncertain future and unstable management as his reasons for leaving. The team later acquired an ex-Triple Eight Commodore from Paul Morris Motorsports. Luff was replaced by Taz Douglas.
Mid-season changes Greg Murphy was ruled out of the Symmons Plains round due to a back injury sustained in a collision during the 2012 Clipsal 500. Dunlop Series driver David Russell replaced him for the event. Two weeks before the event at Hidden Valley Raceway, Murphy suffered a relapse of his back injury and Kelly Racing announced that he would be forced to sit out until at least the Sandown 500 endurance race. David Russell was retained as Murphy's replacement for Hidden Valley, with Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve joining the team for Townsville, Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park events.
Todd Kelly was ruled out of the final four events of the 2012 season, after undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury sustained in a training accident. Kelly's endurance partner, Tim Blanchard, replaced him for the remainder of the season.
Greg Ritter replaced Garry Rogers Motorsport's Alexandre Prémat for the Gold Coast 600.
Scott McLaughlin replaced Alexandre Prémat for Race 30 in Sydney after Prémat had to be removed from his car suffering from dehydration during Race 29 the day before.
Wildcard entries
There would only be one endurance wildcard for 2012. The number 23 entry was prepared by Dunlop Series team Minda Motorsport and operated by Kelly Racing. Cam Waters and Jesse Dixon would compete in the Bathurst 1000.
Calendar The championship was contested over thirty races at fifteen events. A provisional calendar was released on 8 October 2011.
Race Event Circuit Date 1 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide 1–4 March 2 Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains Raceway, Launceston 30 March – 1 April 3 Hamilton 400 Hamilton Street Circuit, Hamilton 20–22 April 4 Perth Challenge Barbagallo Raceway, Wanneroo 4–6 May 5 Phillip Island 300 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island 18–20 May 6 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway, Darwin 15–17 June 7 Townsville 400 Reid Park Street Circuit, Townsville 6–8 July 8 Ipswich 300 Queensland Raceway, Willowbank 3–5 August 9 Sydney Motorsport Park 360 Sydney Motorsport Park, Eastern Creek 25–26 August 10 Sandown 500 Sandown Raceway, Springvale 14–16 September 11 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst 4–7 October 12 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Surfers Paradise 19–21 October 13 Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island 2–4 November 14 Winton Winton Motor Raceway, Benalla 16–18 November 15 Sydney 500 Homebush Street Circuit, Sydney Olympic Park 30 November – 2 December
Calendar changes The Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event was moved from the first event of the championship to the first weekend of November, supporting the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix. It was changed to a three sprint-race format.
The Tasmania Challenge at Symmons Plains Raceway was moved from its November date to become the second event of the championship.
Phillip Island and Sandown switched formats. Phillip Island hosted a standalone race meeting in May, while Sandown returned to the 500 km endurance race format. The Sandown 500 featured a revised qualifying format.
The Queensland 300 was changed from the three-race structure which was used in 2011, returning to a more traditional two-race format.
The Saturday races at Symmons Plains, Phillip Island, Winton and Queensland Raceway were extended by twenty kilometres.
An additional international event was planned for the weekend of 11 November, confirmed by the Philippine Sports Commission to be held at Clark International Speedway but never ratified by V8 Supercars. At the 2012 Adelaide 500, V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane said that the vacant place was "unlikely" to be filled by an Australian venue. On 22 April 2012, it was announced that an international location could not be secured for the November date, and the Winton event was moved to November to replace it. The Sydney Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek made a return to the calendar after a three-year absence to fill in Winton's original August date.
Results and standings Season summary RaceEventCircuitCity / stateDateWinnerTeamReport 1 Adelaide 500 Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South Australia 1–4 March Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 2 Will Davison Ford Performance Racing 3 Tasmania Challenge Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 30 March – 1 April Will Davison Ford Performance Racing Report 4 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 5 Hamilton 400 Hamilton Street Circuit Hamilton, New Zealand 20–22 April Will Davison Ford Performance Racing Report 6 Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing 7 Perth Challenge Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 4–6 May Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Report 8 Will Davison Ford Performance Racing 9 Will Davison Ford Performance Racing 10 Phillip Island 300 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 18–20 May Mark Winterbottom Ford Performance Racing Report 11 Will Davison Ford Performance Racing 12 Darwin Triple Crown Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 15–17 June Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 13 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 14 Townsville 400 Reid Park Street Circuit Townsville, Queensland 6–8 July Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 15 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 16 Ipswich 300 Queensland Raceway Ipswich, Queensland 3–5 August Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 17 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 18 Sydney Motorsport Park 360 Sydney Motorsport Park Eastern Creek, New South Wales 25–26 August Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 19 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Sandown 500Sandown RacewayMelbourne, Victoria14–16 September Luke Youlden Stone Brothers RacingReport Shane van Gisbergen Stone Brothers Racing 20 Craig LowndesWarren Luff Triple Eight Race Engineering 21 Bathurst 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 4–7 October Jamie WhincupPaul Dumbrell Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 22 Gold Coast 600 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Queensland 19–21 October Jamie WhincupSébastien Bourdais Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 23 Will DavisonMika Salo Ford Performance Racing 24 Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event Yas Marina Circuit Yas Island, United Arab Emirates 2–4 November Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 25 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 26 Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering 27 Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 16–18 November Jamie Whincup Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 28 Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering 29 Sydney 500 Homebush Street Circuit Sydney, New South Wales 30 November – 2 December Craig Lowndes Triple Eight Race Engineering Report 30 Will Davison Ford Performance Racing
Points system