The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series replaced the former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup held by the ACO from 2010 to 2011. The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-based racing cars meeting four ACO categories. Several championships, cups, and trophies were awarded in the series' four categories following an eight race season, with a World Championship available to the top scoring drivers and LMP1 category manufacturer.
Following a partial-season match-up against newcomers Toyota, Audi won the Manufacturers' World Championship, while the company's driver line-up of André Lotterer of Germany, Benoît Tréluyer of France, and Marcel Fässler of Switzerland earned the Drivers' World Championship ahead of their teammates Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. Toyota's Alexander Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre were third in the Drivers' Championship standings. Ferrari defending their two Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LMGTE manufacturers title with the Manufacturers' World Cup, outscoring Porsche and Corvette. In the four FIA Trophies for the four categories in the championship, Rebellion Racing won the LMP1 Privateers title, while Starworks Motorsport secured the LMP2 championship; AF Corse won the LMGTE Pro category for the second season in a row, as did Larbre Compétition in LMGTE Am.
Calendar
An initial calendar was announced on 12 November 2011, featuring eight races in eight countries on four continents. Sebring, Spa-Francorchamps, Le Mans, and Silverstone are retained from the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, while the Chinese round remained undecided between 2011's Zhuhai International Circuit or the Shanghai International Circuit. Three new races at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace, Bahrain International Circuit, and Fuji Speedway expand the series to a new continent, replacing the former ILMC round for the Petit Le Mans. A revised calendar released on 7 December swapped the dates of the events in Bahrain and Fuji, while ACO confirmed on 2 February that the final round would be hosted in Shanghai, with the date moved to 27 October. All races were timed events. The 12 Hours of Sebring was a joint event with competitors from the American Le Mans Series sharing half of the race grid, but not scoring points in the World Championship.
Rnd Race Circuit Location Date 1 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida 17 March 2 6 Heures de Spa-Francorchamps Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Stavelot 5 May 3 24 Heures du Mans Circuit de la Sarthe Le Mans 16–17 June 4 6 Hours of Silverstone Silverstone Circuit Silverstone 26 August 5 6 Hours of São Paulo Autódromo José Carlos Pace São Paulo 15 September 6 6 Hours of Bahrain Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir 29 September 7 6 Hours of Fuji Fuji Speedway Oyama, Shizuoka 14 October 8 6 Hours of Shanghai Shanghai International Circuit Shanghai 28 OctoberSource:
Entries The World Endurance Championship received entries in four classes, including Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance — Professional (LMGTE Pro) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance — Amateur (LMGTE Am). The entry list for the 2012 season was released by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest on 2 February, and included nine LMP1 and LMP2 cars, five LMGTE Pro entries, and seven LMGTE Am cars, bringing the full grid up to thirty entrants. Additional entries from full-season teams were also allowed over the course of the season, with a maximum of three cars per entrant.
LMP1 Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre Drivers Rounds Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 TDIAudi R18 ultraAudi R18 e-tron quattro Audi TDI 3.7 L Turbo V6 (Diesel)Audi TDI 3.7 L Turbo V6 (Diesel)Audi TDI 3.7 L Turbo V6 (Hybrid Diesel) 1 André Lotterer All Benoît Tréluyer All Marcel Fässler All 2 Allan McNish All Tom Kristensen All Dindo Capello 1–3 Lucas di Grassi 5 3 Timo Bernhard 1 Marc Gené 2–3 Romain Dumas 1–3 Loïc Duval 1–3 Toyota Racing Toyota TS030 Hybrid Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 (Hybrid) 7 Nicolas Lapierre 3–8 Alexander Wurz 3–8 Kazuki Nakajima 3–4, 7 8 Anthony Davidson 3 Sébastien Buemi 3 Stéphane Sarrazin 3 Rebellion Racing Lola B11/60Lola B12/60 Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 12 Neel Jani All Nicolas Prost All Nick Heidfeld 1–3 13 Andrea Belicchi All Harold Primat All Jeroen Bleekemolen 1, 3 Congfu Cheng 8 OAK Racing OAK Pescarolo 01 Judd DB 3.4 L V8Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 15 Dominik Kraihamer 1–3, 7–8 Bertrand Baguette 1–3, 7–8 Guillaume Moreau 1–2 Franck Montagny 3 Takuma Sato 7–8 Pescarolo Team Pescarolo 01Pescarolo 03 Judd GV5 S2 5.0 L V10Judd DB 3.4 L V8 16 Jean-Christophe Boullion 1, 3 Emmanuel Collard 1, 3 Julien Jousse 1 Stuart Hall 3 Dome S102.5 Judd DB 3.4 L V8 17 Sébastien Bourdais 2–3 Nicolas Minassian 2–3 Seiji Ara 3 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03a Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 21 Jonny Kane All Nick Leventis All Danny Watts All JRM HPD ARX-03a Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 22 David Brabham All Karun Chandhok All Peter Dumbreck All Key Full-season entry* Eligible for all championship points Additional entry* Eligible only for Drivers' championship points Third manufacturer entry* Eligible for Drivers' championship points* Only eligible for LMP1 Manufacturers' championship points at Le Mans
LMP2 Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre Drivers Rounds Signatech-Nissan Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 23 Olivier Lombard All Franck Mailleux All Jordan Tresson All 26 Pierre Ragues 2–8 Nelson Panciatici 2–8 Roman Rusinov 2–8 OAK Racing Morgan LMP2 Judd HK 3.6 L V8Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 24 Jacques Nicolet All Olivier Pla All Matthieu Lahaye All 35 David Heinemeier Hansson 2–4 Bas Leinders 2–3 Maxime Martin 3 Bertrand Baguette 4–6 Dominik Kraihamer 4–6 Alex Brundle 5–6 ADR-Delta Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 25 Tor Graves All John Martin All Robbie Kerr 1–2 Jan Charouz 3–5 Shinji Nakano 7 Mathias Beche 8 Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/80 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 28 Fabien Giroix 1–3 Maxime Jousse 1–2 Stefan Johansson 1–3 Ludovic Badey 3 29 Frédéric Fatien 1–2 Keiko Ihara All Jean-Denis Delétraz All Marc Rostan 3 Fabien Giroix 4–8 Lotus Lola B12/80 Lotus HK 3.6 L V8 31 Thomas Holzer All Mirco Schultis 1–5, 7–8 Luca Moro 1, 3, 5–6 Renger van der Zande 2 Christijan Albers 4 32 Luca Moro 2 Kevin Weeda 2, 4–8 James Rossiter 2, 4–8 Vitantonio Liuzzi 4–7 Jan Charouz 8 Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 41 Elton Julian All Christian Zugel All Ricardo González 1–4, 6–8 Roberto González 5 42 Alex Brundle 3–4 Martin Brundle 3–4 Lucas Ordoñez 3–4 Starworks Motorsport HPD ARX-03b Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 44 Enzo Potolicchio All Ryan Dalziel 1–5, 7–8 Stéphane Sarrazin 1–2, 4–8 Tom Kimber-Smith 3, 6 PeCom Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 49 Pierre Kaffer All Luis Pérez Companc All Soheil Ayari 1–4 Nicolas Minassian 5–8
LMGTE Pro Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre Drivers Rounds AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 51 Gianmaria Bruni 1–5, 7–8 Giancarlo Fisichella All Toni Vilander 1, 3, 6 71 Andrea Bertolini All Olivier Beretta All Marco Cioci 1, 3 Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 59 Frédéric Makowiecki 1–3 Jaime Melo 1–3 Jean-Karl Vernay 1 Dominik Farnbacher 3 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche M97/74 4.0 L Flat-6 77 Marc Lieb All Richard Lietz All Patrick Pilet 1 Wolf Henzler 3 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin AM05 4.5 L V8 97 Stefan Mücke All Darren Turner All Adrián Fernández 1–4
LMGTE Am Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre Drivers Rounds Larbre Compétition Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS5.5R 5.5 L V8 50 Patrick Bornhauser All Julien Canal All Pedro Lamy 1, 3, 7–8 Fernando Rees 2, 4–6 70 Jean-Philippe Belloc All Christophe Bourret All Pascal Gibon 1, 3–8 JWA-Avila Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche M97/74 4.0 L Flat-6 55 Joël Camathias All Markus Palttala 1–5 Bill Binnie 1 Paul Daniels 2–8 Benny Simonsen 6 Kenji Kobayashi 7 Matt Bell 8 Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 57 Niclas Jönsson All Tracy Krohn All Michele Rugolo All Luxury Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 58 Pierre Ehret 1–3 Dominik Farnbacher 1 François Jakubowski 1 Gunnar Jeannette 2–3 Frankie Montecalvo 2–3 AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F136 4.5 L V8 61 Rui Águas 1–3, 6, 8 Robert Kauffman 1–3, 6, 8 Michael Waltrip 1 Brian Vickers 2–3, 6 Piergiuseppe Perazzini 4 Matt Griffin 4 Marco Cioci 4, 8 Francisco Longo 5 Xandinho Negrão 5 Enrique Bernoldi 5 AF Corse 81 Piergiuseppe Perazzini 2–3 Matt Griffin 2–3 Marco Cioci 2 Niki Cadei 3 Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche M97/74 4.0 L Flat-6 88 Christian Ried All Gianluca Roda All Paolo Ruberti All
Results and standings
Race results The highest finishing competitor entered in the World Endurance Championship is listed below. Invitational entries may have finished ahead of WEC competitors in individual races.
Rnd. Circuit LMP1 Winners LMP2 Winners LMGTE Pro Winners LMGTE Am Winners Report 1 Sebring No. 2 Audi Sport Team Joest No. 44 Starworks Motorsport No. 71 AF Corse No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Report Allan McNish Tom Kristensen Rinaldo Capello Ryan Dalziel Enzo Potolicchio Stéphane Sarrazin Andrea Bertolini Marco Cioci Olivier Beretta Christian Ried Paolo Ruberti Gianluca Roda 2 Spa-Francorchamps No. 3 Audi Sport Team Joest No. 25 ADR-Delta No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Report Romain Dumas Loïc Duval Marc Gené John Martin Robbie Kerr Tor Graves Marc Lieb Richard Lietz Christian Ried Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti 3 Le Mans No. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest No. 44 Starworks Motorsport No. 51 AF Corse No. 50 Larbre Compétition Report Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer André Lotterer Ryan Dalziel Enzo Potolicchio Tom Kimber-Smith Gianmaria Bruni Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander Patrick Bornhauser Julien Canal Pedro Lamy 4 Silverstone No. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest No. 25 ADR-Delta No. 51 AF Corse No. 61 AF Corse-Waltrip Report Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer André Lotterer Jan Charouz Tor Graves John Martin Giancarlo Fisichella Gianmaria Bruni Piergiuseppe Perazzini Marco Cioci Matt Griffin 5 São Paulo No. 7 Toyota Racing No. 44 Starworks Motorsport No. 51 AF Corse No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Report Alexander Wurz Nicolas Lapierre Ryan Dalziel Enzo Potolicchio Stéphane Sarrazin Giancarlo Fisichella Gianmaria Bruni Christian Ried Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti 6 Bahrain No. 1 Audi Sport Team Joest No. 49 Pecom Racing No. 51 AF Corse No. 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton Report Marcel Fässler Benoît Tréluyer André Lotterer Luis Pérez Companc Nicolas Minassian Pierre Kaffer Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander Christian Ried Gianluca Roda Paolo Ruberti 7 Fuji No. 7 Toyota Racing No. 25 ADR-Delta No. 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton No. 50 Larbre Compétition Report Alexander Wurz Nicolas Lapierre Kazuki Nakajima Tor Graves John Martin Shinji Nakano Marc Lieb Richard Lietz Patrick Bornhauser Julien Canal Pedro Lamy 8 Shanghai No. 7 Toyota Racing No. 25 ADR-Delta No. 97 Aston Martin Racing No. 50 Larbre Compétition Report Alexander Wurz Nicolas Lapierre Tor Graves John Martin Mathias Beche Stefan Mücke Darren Turner Patrick Bornhauser Julien Canal Pedro LamySource:
Championships Entries were required to complete the timed race as well as to complete 70% of the overall winning car's race distance in order to earn championship points. A single bonus point was awarded to the team and all drivers of the pole position car in qualifying in each category. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the points allocation was doubled.
+Points systems Duration 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole 6–12 Hours 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 0.5 1 24 Hours 50 36 30 24 20 16 12 8 4 2 1 1Source:
Drivers' World Championship