The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan was the tenth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the fifth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Japan. It was held on 21 October 2012 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Japan. The first race was won by Alain Menu for Chevrolet and the second race was won by Stefano D'Aste for Wiechers-Sport.

Background After the previous round in the United States at Sonoma Raceway, the championship was being led jointly by Yvan Muller and Robert Huff on 315 points. Norbert Michelisz was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy. Chevrolet had the opportunity to secure the manufacturers championship.

There were a number of driver changes prior to the event, Darryl O'Young left Special Tuning Racing and later returned to bamboo-engineering. His replacement at STR was German racing driver and former FIA GT1 World Championship team owner René Münnich. Masaki Kano joined Liqui Moly Team Engstler for his home event, driving a naturally aspirated BMW 320si. Fellow Japanese racer Hiroki Yoshimoto joined Tuenti Racing Team for the event, driving the SUNRED SR León 1.6T raced up until the last event by Tiago Monteiro.

Monteiro switched to Honda Racing Team JAS for the final three rounds of the championship to debut the works Honda Civic S2000 TC in order to develop the car in preparation for a full programme in 2013.

Report

Free Practice Muller set the pace in the Friday test session which was interrupted by a trio of red flags, leading a Chevrolet 1–2–3 with Pepe Oriola the leading SEAT in fourth.

Chevrolet continued to set the pace on Saturday in FP1, this time courtesy of Alain Menu at the head of another Chevrolet 1–2–3. Monteiro set the fourth fastest time in his new Honda Civic and Oriola was the quickest independent driver. Local driver Yoshimoto was seventh.

Menu topped the times once again in FP2, although surprisingly the Chevrolet 1–2–3 from earlier on was not repeated as Fernando Monje set the third fastest time in his Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León.

Qualifying After setting the pace throughout free practice, Menu went on to take pole position ahead of Muller and Huff while Chevrolet wrapped up the manufacturers title. Much of the attention was on the Honda of Monteiro, who at one point looked likely to drop out in Q1 until a last minute quick lap got him through to the second session. He finished Q2 eleventh behind Stefano D'Aste who would take his third reversed grid pole position of the year in race two. Independents' Trophy leader Michelisz could only manage fourteenth, five places behind trophy rival Oriola. The Team Aon duo of James Nash and Tom Chilton qualified in 19th and 21st respectively but would both start the first race at the back of the grid due to them both requiring a new engine for the event.

Warm-Up Race two pole sitter D'Aste was the quickest driver in Sunday mornings warm up session, Michelisz was a close second. An engine change for Masaki Kano overnight would send him to the back of the race one grid.

Race One Menu led from start to finish leading a comfortable Chevrolet 1–2–3 in the opening Suzuka race. The lack of action near the front was representative of much of field, although Gabriele Tarquini jumped up from sixth to fourth at the start to lead home independent race winner Alex MacDowall. Having overtaken James Nash, Alberto Cerqui then quickly ended his race in the gravel at turn one. Mehdi Bennani collided with Aleksei Dudukalo while attempting a pass, Dudukalo held the car and continued while Bennani was forced to pit. Monteiro finished tenth to score a point in the debut race for the Honda Civic. After the race, Dudukalo received a 30-second penalty for colliding with Bennani and he dropped to 18th in the classification, while Nash and Cerqui both received 30-second penalties for start infringements dropping Nash to 19th.

Race Two D'Aste started on pole position for the reverse grid race, he established a comfortable lead over second placed Oriola to take his second win of the season. Tarquini had jumped up to third place to complete the podium. Behind them, the Chevrolet trio found passing difficult and the Proteam Racing BMW of Bennani held them back for much of the race. Huff and Menu passed on the penultimate lap, while Muller passed Bennani on the final lap. Independent trophy contender Michelisz spun out of the race on the first lap, allowing trophy rival Oriola to close the points gap to 12. The overall championship was once again a tie between Huff and Muller.

Results

Qualifying Name Team Car Q1 Q2 Points 1 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 52.984 52.885 5 2 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 52.940 52.950 4 3 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 53.077 53.054 3 4 11 Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 53.357 53.206 2 5 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 53.652 53.224 1 6 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 53.488 53.259 7 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 53.420 53.400 8 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.431 53.513 9 74 Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.740 53.516 10 26 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 53.696 53.729 11 18 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC 53.443 53.886 12 20 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 53.608 54.491 13 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 53.742 14 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 53.746 15 22 Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.847 16 88 Fernando Monje Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.978 17 80 Hiroki Yoshimoto Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6TY 54.002 18 7 Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 54.030 19 14 James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 54.082 20 16 Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 54.100 21 23 Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 54.330 22 38 René Münnich Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 54.690 23 75 Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 55.013 Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 23:44.880 1 25 2 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +0.812 2 18 3 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +1.419 3 15 4 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 26 +13.828 6 12 5 11 Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 26 +14.273 4 10 6 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 26 +19.870 7 8 7 74 Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +20.415 9 6 8 26 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 26 +20.677 10 4 9 18 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC 26 +21.284 11 2 10 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 26 +21.490 13 1 11 20 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +23.724 12 12 22 Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +32.605 15 13 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 26 +32.767 14 14 88 Fernando Monje Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 26 +34.151 16 15 23 Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +34.615 22 16 80 Hiroki Yoshimoto Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6TY 26 +40.965 17 17 38 René Münnich Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +48.733 20 18 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +49.644 8 19 14 James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +1:03.894 21 20 75 Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 25 +1 Lap 23 21 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 25 +1 Lap 5 22 7 Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 23 +3 Laps 18 Ret 16 Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 14 Race incident 19 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 26 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 26 23:54.717 1 25 2 74 Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +2.562 2 18 3 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 26 +2.845 5 15 4 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +3.774 8 12 5 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +4.220 10 10 6 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +4.568 9 8 7 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 26 +4.879 6 6 8 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +7.174 3 4 9 11 Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 26 +7.707 7 2 10 18 Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC 26 +10.583 11 1 11 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 26 +11.997 13 12 22 Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +18.156 15 13 20 Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +18.945 12 14 16 Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 26 +19.154 20 15 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 26 +19.492 4 16 14 James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +25.856 19 17 7 Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 26 +25.857 18 18 23 Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +26.142 21 19 80 Hiroki Yoshimoto Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6TY 26 +34.762 17 20 38 René Münnich Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +35.074 22 21 75 Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 26 +40.576 23 Ret 88 Fernando Monje Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 18 Mechanical 16 Ret 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 0 Race incident 14 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Yvan Muller 345 2 Robert Huff 345 3 Alain Menu 307 4 Gabriele Tarquini 220 5 Tom Coronel 172

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Norbert Michelisz 136 2 Pepe Oriola 126 3 Stefano D'Aste 101 4 Alex MacDowall 95 5 Franz Engstler 76

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 835 2 BMW Customer Racing Teams 543 3 SEAT Racing Technology 532

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

External links