The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the
World Endurance Championship World Endurance Championship may refer to:
* FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series held since 2012
* World Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series which used the title World Endurance Championship from 1981 to 1985
* Endura ...
. It was co-organised by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA) and the
Automobile Club de l'Ouest
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...
(ACO). The series replaced the former
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010. held by the ACO from 2010 to 2011. The series was open to
Le Mans Prototype
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...
s and
grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wh ...
-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
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
,
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
won the Manufacturers' World Championship, while the company's driver line-up of
André Lotterer of Germany,
Benoît Tréluyer
Benoît Tréluyer (; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver.
Early career
Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He w ...
of France, and
Marcel Fässler of Switzerland earned the Drivers' World Championship ahead of their teammates
Allan McNish
Allan McNish (born 29 December 1969) is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013, as well as a three-time winner of the American Le Ma ...
and
Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish former racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive (from 2000 to 2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing te ...
. Toyota's
Alexander Wurz
Alexander Georg Wurz (born 15 February 1974) is an Austrian former professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from until , and is also a two-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours.
He is current ...
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
Rebellion Racing is a Swiss racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams' title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season. The team started as an association ...
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
Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international ...
in LMGTE Am.
Calendar
![Audi R18 e-tron quattro 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Audi_R18_e-tron_quattro_2012.jpg)
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
The 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup was the second and final Season running of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, an international auto racing championship for manufacturers and teams. The Cup featured endur ...
, while the Chinese round remained undecided between 2011's
Zhuhai International Circuit
Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) (simplified Chinese: 珠海国际赛车场; traditional Chinese: ) is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China.
Motorsport started in Zhuhai when it hosted a race on its street circ ...
or the
Shanghai International Circuit
The Shanghai International Circuit () is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019 and was scheduled again fr ...
. Three new races at the
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener Adhemar de Barros. The t ...
,
Bahrain International Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain ...
, and
Fuji Speedway expand the series to a new continent, replacing the former ILMC round for the
Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...
.
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
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
sharing half of the race grid, but not scoring points in the World Championship.
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
The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO, is the largest automotive group in France. It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the orga ...
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
LMP2
LMGTE Pro
LMGTE Am
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.
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.
Drivers' World Championship
André Lotterer,
Benoît Tréluyer
Benoît Tréluyer (; born 7 December 1976) is a French professional racing driver.
Early career
Beginning his motorsport career in motocross and karting, Alençon-born Tréluyer switched to single-seaters in Formula Renault Campus for 1995. He w ...
and
Marcel Fässler won the Drivers' World Championship at the
6 Hours of Shanghai
The 4 Hours of Shanghai (previously 6 Hours of Shanghai) is a sports car race that is held at the Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading District of Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. It was created for the FIA World Endurance Champion ...
. They had won three races including the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...
driving the No.1 car of
Audi Sport Team Joest
Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany.
Early years
As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began t ...
.
;Notes
*† — Drivers were classified, but did not score as they drove for less than the required minimum time during the race.
Manufacturers' World Championship
![Audi R18 e-tron quattro no1 2012 WEC Fuji](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Audi_R18_e-tron_quattro_no1_2012_WEC_Fuji.jpg)
The FIA LMP1 Manufacturers' World Endurance Championship was open to full-season manufacturer entries participating in the LMP1 category. Points were only awarded to the highest scoring entry for that manufacturer for each event. Further, only the scores from six events counted towards the championship, Le Mans plus the five best race results over the season.
Audi
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide.
Th ...
secured the Manufacturers' World Championship at the
6 Hours of Silverstone
The 4 Hours of Silverstone (formerly the 1000 km of Silverstone and 6 Hours of Silverstone) is an endurance sports car race held at Silverstone Circuit near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. First run in 1976 ...
following four consecutive victories in the first half of the championship.
Manufacturers' World Cup
![Ferrari 458 Italia Luxury Racing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Ferrari_458_Italia_Luxury_Racing.jpg)
The LMGTE Manufacturers' World Cup was open to full-season manufacturer entries participating in either of the two LMGTE categories. Results in the LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am categories were combined for the World Cup.
Only the two best classified cars of the same manufacturer in an event scored points for the World Cup.
Ferrari secured the Manufacturers' World Cup title at the
6 Hours of Bahrain
The 8 Hours of Bahrain (previously 6 Hours of Bahrain) (بطولة ست ساعات في البحرين) is a sports car race that is held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was created for the FIA World Endurance Champ ...
following four consecutive victories.
LMP1 Trophy
![Lola B12-60](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Lola_B12-60.jpg)
The FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams was open to full-season
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
LMP1 entries not designated as manufacturers.
Only the best classified car of a team at each event scored points for the Trophy.
Rebellion Racing
Rebellion Racing is a Swiss racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams' title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season. The team started as an association ...
secured the LMP1 Trophy at the
6 Hours of Fuji
The 6 Hours of Fuji (formerly the Fuji 1000 Kilometres) is a sports car race held at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan. The race was held for the first time in 1967, and in 1977 became part of the new Fuji Long Distance Series. In 1982 a sec ...
, winning five of the first seven races in the season including five races with both team cars on the privateer podium.
LMP2 Trophy
Starworks Motorsport earned the LMP2 Trophy at the
6 Hours of Fuji
The 6 Hours of Fuji (formerly the Fuji 1000 Kilometres) is a sports car race held at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan. The race was held for the first time in 1967, and in 1977 became part of the new Fuji Long Distance Series. In 1982 a sec ...
, winning three races and earning four class
pole positions.
LMGTE Pro Trophy
![Ferrari 458 GTC AF Corse Le Mans 2012](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Ferrari_458_GTC_AF_Corse_Le_Mans_2012.jpg)
The LMGTE Pro Trophy was won by
AF Corse, who secured the championship at the
6 Hours of Bahrain
The 8 Hours of Bahrain (previously 6 Hours of Bahrain) (بطولة ست ساعات في البحرين) is a sports car race that is held at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was created for the FIA World Endurance Champ ...
. The team had finished every race of the season in either first or second place with either of their two
Ferraris.
LMGTE Am Trophy
Larbre Compétition
Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international ...
won the LMGTE Am Trophy at the
6 Hours of Shanghai
The 4 Hours of Shanghai (previously 6 Hours of Shanghai) is a sports car race that is held at the Shanghai International Circuit in Jiading District of Shanghai in the People's Republic of China. It was created for the FIA World Endurance Champion ...
, winning three races with either of their two
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctiv ...
s.
References
External links
*
{{FIA World Endurance Championship
World Endurance Championship World Endurance Championship may refer to:
* FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series held since 2012
* World Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series which used the title World Endurance Championship from 1981 to 1985
* Endura ...
FIA World Endurance Championship seasons