The 2012 Race of Champions was the 25th running of the event, and took place over 14–16 December 2012 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.The IBNLive news article on the race During the first day, a ROC Thailand contest was held with four local drivers to decide the identity of the Thai representatives. The top two drivers (Nattavude Charoensukawattana and Tin Sritrai) advanced to the ROC Asia contest, where they faced teams from India, China and Japan. The Thai team was guaranteed a place in the main Nations Cup, whilst the second spot was taken by the victorious Indian team formed by F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan and WEC driver Karun Chandhok. During the second day, Germany took their sixth consecutive Nations Cup victory courtesy of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, beating France (Sébastien Ogier and Romain Grosjean) in the final 2–0. During the final day, Romain Grosjean won the Race of Champions, beating Tom Kristensen 2–0 in a closely fought final.The Formula One official site article on the race In the UK, the live broadcasts of the latter two days of the event on Motors TV attracted a peak of 44,000 television viewers, a respectable figure for a satellite-only channel.
Participants
Champions from numerous series were invited, including Formula One (Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Romain Grosjean), MotoGP (Jorge Lorenzo and Mick Doohan), WTCC (Andy Priaulx), V8 Supercars (Jamie Whincup), PWRC (Benito Guerra) and IndyCar (Ryan Hunter-Reay).Pre-race article by Fox News Also present was eight-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. The 2012 edition marked the first time drivers from India, Thailand and Mexico have competed, whilst it was the first time since the inaugural Nations Cup event in 1999 that there were no Finnish drivers present. Reigning champion Sébastien Ogier was the only former 'Champion of Champions' in attendance.
Team Drivers 2012 series All-Stars Tom Kristensen WEC Jorge Lorenzo MotoGP Americas Benito Guerra Production WRC Ryan Hunter-Reay IndyCar Series Australia Mick Doohan none Jamie Whincup V8 Supercars France Romain Grosjean Formula One Sébastien Ogier WRC Germany Michael Schumacher Formula One Sebastian Vettel Formula One Great Britain David Coulthard DTM Andy Priaulx DTM India Karun Chandhok WEC Narain Karthikeyan Formula One Thailand Nattavude Charoensukawattana Super Car Thailand Tin Sritrai Super Car Thailand
ROC Asia
2012 marked the inaugural ROC Asia event, with drivers from a variety of championships (including Formula One, WEC and Super GT) taking part. The top two drivers from ROC Thailand would represent Thailand in the event.
Country Drivers 2012 series China Han Han China Rally and CTCC Ho-Pin Tung PCC Asia India Karun Chandhok WEC Narain Karthikeyan Formula One Japan Takuto Iguchi Super GT Kazuya Oshima Formula Nippon/Super GT Thailand Nattavude Charoensukawattana Super Car Thailand Tin Sritrai Super Car Thailand
ROC Thailand
The ROC Thailand contest was held to decide who would represent Thailand in ROC Asia, the Nations Cup and the Race of Champions. 2001 Asian Touring Car Series champion Charoensukawattana and 1999 Formula Asia champion Horthongkum battled out with drift driver Nana and touring car driver Sritrai to be among the top 2.
Country Drivers 2012 series Thailand Nattavude Charoensukawattana Super Car Thailand Nattapong Horthongkum Super Car Thailand Sak Nana Tin Sritrai Super Car Thailand
Cars Seven cars were used throughout the event. The Toyota GT86 and Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo made their debut in this year, while the Škoda Fabia was dropped.
Audi R8 LMS KTM X-Bow Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Euro Racecar ROC Car Toyota GT86 Volkswagen Scirocco
The track
A 697 metres tarmac track was constructed in the Rajamangala Stadium. The track had a bridge to connect the outer lane with the inner lane in an 8 shape track. All the races were run to 2 laps (1.394 km). In the first day a chicane was placed in the bridge area. The chicane was modified for the second and third day making the lap time longer.
Tom Kristensen made the fastest time (1:14.0680) on the second configuration in an Audi R8 at speed of 67.75 km/h.
ROC Thailand
Round Robin
Pos. Driver Wins Losses Best Time 1 Nattavude Charoensukawattana 3 01:21.087 2 Tin Sritrai 2 11:22.287 3 Nattapong Horthongkum 1 21:22.877 4 Sak Nana 0 31:24.309
Final
Winner Time Car Loser Time Nattavude Charoensukawattana 1:21.9160 Toyota GT86 Tin Sritrai 1:22.8871
ROC Asia
Round Robin
Pos. Team Wins Losses Drivers Wins Losses Best Time 1 4 2 Karun Chandhok 2 11:19.393 Narain Karthikeyan 2 11:19.460 2 3 3 Kazuya Oshima 2 11:18.470 Takuto Iguchi 1 21:19.853 3 3 3 Nattavude Charoensukawattana 2 11:21.110 Tin Sritrai 1 21:20.3364 4 2 4 Han Han 2 11:19.450 Ho-Pin Tung 0 31:18.2100
Final
Winner Time Car Loser Time Narain Karthikeyan1:20.1777 Volkswagen Scirocco Kazuya Oshima1:20.6809 Karun Chandhok1:21.4805 Toyota GT86 Takuto Iguchi1:22.4326
Nations Cup
Drivers who made a false start are marked with a Yellow card in the tables, and a time penalty of 5 seconds was added to their original time.
Group A Pos.TeamWinsLossesDriverWinsLossesBest Time1 France42 Romain Grosjean211:16.613 Sébastien Ogier211:16.2402 All-Stars33 Tom Kristensen211:14.708 Jorge Lorenzo121:23.3103 Americas33 Benito Guerra211:22.346 Ryan Hunter-Reay121:19.1334 Great Britain24 David Coulthard121:15.798 Andy Priaulx121:17.055
Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 France 1–1 Great Britain R. Grosjean 1:23.6650 Volkswagen Scirocco D. Coulthard 1:23.6169 S. Ogier 1:16.2420 Audi R8 LMS A. Priaulx 1:17.0557 Americas 1–1 All-Stars R. Hunter-Reay 1:24.5635 Volkswagen Scirocco T. Kristensen 1:23.0759 B. Guerra 1:22.3469 Audi R8 LMS J. Lorenzo DNF France 2–0 All-Stars R. Grosjean 1:16.6132 KTM X-Bow T. Kristensen 1:16.7225 S. Ogier 1:24.5176 Toyota GT86 J. Lorenzo 1:26.7994
Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 Great Britain1–1 Americas D. Coulthard 1:16.2360 KTM X-Bow R. Hunter-Reay 1:19.1336 A. Priaulx 1:24.4475 Toyota GT86 B. Guerra 1:24.0601 All-Stars 2–0 Great Britain T. Kristensen 1:14.7081 Audi R8 LMS D. Coulthard 1:15.7987 J. Lorenzo 1:23.3108 Volkswagen Scirocco A. Priaulx 1:23.1226 Americas 1–1 France R. Hunter-Reay 1:18.5096 Audi R8 LMS Romain Grosjean 1:16.5117 B. Guerra 1:22.7852 Volkswagen Scirocco Sébastien Ogier 1:23.6944
Group B Pos.TeamWinsLossesDriverWinsLossesBest Time1 Germany60 Michael Schumacher301:15.614 Sebastian Vettel301:16.6572 Australia33 Mick Doohan121:20.178 Jamie Whincup211:19.3853 India24 Karun Chandhok121:18.317 Narain Karthikeyan121:23.1694 Thailand15 Nattavude Charoensukawattana031:23.964 Tin Sritrai121:19.160
Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 Germany 2–0 Thailand M. Schumacher 1:15.6141 KTM X-Bow N. Charoensukawattana 1:18.9635 S. Vettel 1:19.8275 ROC car T. Sritrai 1:24.4221 Australia 2–0 India J. Whincup 1:19.3849 KTM X-Bow N. Karthikeyan 1:18.1692 M. Doohan 1:20.9261 ROC car K. Chandhok 1:21.2589 India 0–2 Germany N. Karthikeyan 1:25.8278 ROC Car M. Schumacher 1:19.1891 K. Chandhok 1:18.3171 KTM X-Bow S. Vettel 1:16.6574
Team 1 Time 1 Score Team 2 Time 2 Thailand 1–1 Australia N. Charoensukawattana 1:22.5612 ROC Car J. Whincup 1:22.0806 T. Sritrai 1:19.1595 KTM X-Bow M. Doohan 1:20.1776 Thailand 1–1 India N. Charoensukawattana 1:22.7724 Euro Racecar N. Karthikeyan 1:23.4550 T. Sritrai 1:21.2564 L. Gallardo ST K. Chandhok 1:19.6611 Australia 0–2 Germany J. Whincup 1:20.9684 Euro Racecar M. Schumacher 1:18.3839 M. Doohan DNF L. Gallardo ST S. Vettel 1:19.1646
Finals
Semifinals Team 1 Time 1 Car Team 2 Time 2 France2-0 All-Stars Sébastien Ogier 1:15.5143 Audi R8 LMS Tom Kristensen 1:15.6365 Romain Grosjean 1:23.1327 Toyota GT86 Jorge Lorenzo 1:24.7146 Germany2-0 Australia Michael Schumacher 1:17.2869 Euro Racecar Jamie Whincup 1:22.1543 Sebastian Vettel 1:17.6834 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Mick Doohan 1:19.6904
Final Team 1 Time 1 Car Team 2 Time 2 France0-2 Germany Romain Grosjean 1:17.3946 KTM X-Bow Michael Schumacher 1:15.3257 Sébastien Ogier 1:20.5839 ROC Car Sebastian Vettel 1:18.6005
Race of Champions Ho-Pin Tung and Kazuya Oshima qualified having achieved the best times (among non-Thai drivers) in ROC Asia.
Group A Pos.TeamWinsLossesBest Time1 Sébastien Ogier301:17.61362 David Coulthard211:16.11063 Jamie Whincup121:17.66354 Benito Guerra031:16.8181
Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 S. Ogier 1:17.6136Audi R8 LMS Benito Guerra1:18.4051 J. Whincup1:17.6635Audi R8 LMS D. Coulthard1:16.8300 D. Coulthard1:23.4184VW Scirocco S. Ogier1:21.9990 B. Guerra1:30.3107 Toyota GT86 J. Whincup1:22.6688 D. Coulthard1:16.1106KTM X-Bow B. Guerra1:16.8181 S. Ogier1:17.9073KTM X-Bow J. Whincup1:20.7565
Group B Pos.TeamWinsLossesBest Time1 Ho-Pin Tung211:16.15182 Tom Kristensen211:17.33593 Nattavude Charoensukawattana121:16.70004 Andy Priaulx121:17.1192
Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 T. Kristensen1:22.5816VW Scirocco N. Charoensukawattana1:23.0965 A. Priaulx1:22.9224VW Scirocco H.P. Tung1:24.7555 H.P. Tung1:16.1518Audi R8 LMS T. Kristensen1:16.2422 N. Charoensukawattana1:16.7000Audi R8 LMS A. Priaulx1:17.1192 H.P. Tung1:17.9684L. Gallardo ST N. Charoensukawattana1:24.6836 T. Kristensen1:17.3359L. Gallardo ST A. PriaulxDNF
Group C Pos.TeamWinsLossesBest Time1 Sebastian Vettel301:15.49492 Mick Doohan211:18.18643 Tin Sritrai121:18.04304 Jorge Lorenzo031:19.0598 Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 S. Vettel1:21.3306ROC Car T. Sritrai1:22.3280 J. Lorenzo1:22.7320ROC Car M. Doohan1:22.2028 M. Doohan1:19.1871KTM X-Bow S. Vettel1:16.4088 T. Sritrai1:18.0430KTM X-Bow J. Lorenzo1:20.4889 M. Doohan1:18.1864KTM X-Bow T. Sritrai1:23.1294 S. Vettel1:15.4949KTM X-Bow J. Lorenzo1:19.0598
Group D Pos.TeamWinsLossesBest Time1 Michael Schumacher301:15.59932 Romain Grosjean211:15.76663 Ryan Hunter-Reay121:17.02064 Kazuya Oshima031:21.7940 Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 M. Schumacher1:15.5993KTM X-Bow R. Grosjean1:15.7666 R. Hunter-Reay1:17.0206KTM X-Bow K. Oshima1:22.5314 K. Oshima1:21.7940ROC Car M. Schumacher1:19.7627 R. Grosjean1:19.3890ROC Car R. Hunter-Reay1:26.2154 K. Oshima1:24.7413 Euro Racecar R. Grosjean1:20.9656 M. Schumacher1:17.8680Euro Racecar R. Hunter-Reay1:25.2427
Knockout stage
Quarterfinals Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 Sébastien Ogier 1:14.5605 Audi R8 LMS Tom Kristensen 1:14.0680 Ho-Pin Tung 1:21.7089 Volkswagen Scirocco David Coulthard 1:21.6364 Sebastian Vettel DNF KTM X-Bow Romain Grosjean 1:15.5455 Michael Schumacher 1:17.0426 Euro Racecar Mick Doohan 1:25.1853
Semifinals Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 Tom Kristensen 1:14.3384 Audi R8 LMS David Coulthard 1:15.8312 Romain Grosjean 1:14.8951 KTM X-Bow Michael Schumacher 1:15.3823
Final Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2 Tom Kristensen 1:18.9348 ROC Car Romain Grosjean 1:18.4775 Romain Grosjean 1:16.0779 KTM X-Bow Tom Kristensen 1:16.4569
References
External links Official site