2012 European Le Mans Series
The 2012 European Le Mans Series was the ninth season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's European Le Mans Series (previously known as simply Le Mans Series). Championship titles were awarded in five categories, with the Le Mans Series shifting its categories following its separation from the FIA World Endurance Championship. LMP1 cars were dropped due to most teams entering the FIA World Endurance Championship while a new GTC category was created to allow single make grand tourer cars and FIA GT3s to compete in endurance races. However, there were no GTC cars that competed during the season.
2012 European Le Mans Series | |||
Previous: | 2011 | Next: | 2013 |
Due to the numerous issues the season was reduced to just three rounds, starting in Le Castellet, France on 1 April and ended at Braselton, Georgia, United States, on 20 October.
Schedule
Following the ELMS decision to no longer share races with the FIA World Endurance Championship (formerly the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup), the series required new races to replace the Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone races which now were part of the WEC. Circuit Paul Ricard was the only event carried over from 2011 and remained the season opener.[1] Circuit Zolder was supposed to serve as the second round of the series, but on 1 April the race was cancelled due to a lack of entrants. ELMS teams were instead invited to enter the 6 Hours of Spa WEC round.[2] Following a small number of entries at Donington, the season's two later rounds at the Brno Circuit and Autódromo Internacional do Algarve were cancelled. In place of these two rounds, an agreement was reached with the American Le Mans Series to allow ELMS competitors to participate in the Petit Le Mans for double points, with the ELMS providing transport assistance to full-season teams.[3]
Rnd | Race | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|
– | Official Test Session | 9–10 March | |
1 | 6 Hours of Castellet | 1 April | |
2 | 6 Hours of Donington | 15 July | |
3 | Petit Le Mans | 20 October | |
Regulation changes
The Le Mans Series made changes to its class structure for the 2012 season, eliminating one previous class while adding another. The LMP1 Le Mans Prototype category were no longer featured in LMS races due to the large amount of LMP1 factory teams which switched from the Le Mans Series to the World Endurance Championship. This move promotes the LMP2 category to the top of the class structure. To replace LMP1, a new class has been created at the bottom of the class structure, named GTC. This class allowed only three cars from various one make series to compete: The Ferrari 458 Challenge, Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and the Lotus Evora GT4. Teams in GTC were not allowed more than one professional driver in their line-up.[4] Finally, the Formula Le Mans category was renamed LMP Challenge, aligning with the title utilized by the American Le Mans Series.[5]
Entry list
Entry List[6] | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entrant/Team | Car | Engine | Tyre | No | Drivers | Rounds |
LMP2 | ||||||
Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 1 | All | ||
1–2 | ||||||
3 | ||||||
Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 10 | 1–2 | ||
1–2 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
Oreca 03 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 | D | 11 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
Lola B12/80 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 | D | 17 | 1–2 | ||
1 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
MG-Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 18 | All | ||
1 | ||||||
2–3 | ||||||
Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 19 | 1–2 | ||
1–2 | ||||||
1–2 | ||||||
Morgan LMP2 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 | D | 24 | 1–2 | ||
1 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | 35 | 2–3 | ||||
2 | ||||||
2–3 | ||||||
3 | ||||||
Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 38 | 1–2 | ||
1–2 | ||||||
Norma M200P | Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 | D | 44 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 45 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 | D | 46 | All | ||
3 | ||||||
LMPC | ||||||
Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2L V8 | M | 40 | 1–2 | ||
1 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2L V8 | M | 42 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
1 | ||||||
LM GTE Pro | ||||||
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 | D | 61 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 | D | 66 | 1 | ||
1–2 | ||||||
2 | ||||||
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 | M | 83 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
LM GTE Am | ||||||
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 | M | 60 | All | ||
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | M | 67 | All | ||
Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5L V8 | D | 69 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | M | 75 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 | M | 99 | 1 | ||
1 | ||||||
Season results
Rnd. | Circuit | LMP2 Winning Team | LMPC Winning Team | GTE Pro Winning Team | GTE Am Winning Team | Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
LMP2 Winning Drivers | LMPC Winning Drivers | GTE Pro Winning Drivers | GTE Am Winning Drivers | |||
1 | Paul Ricard | Results | ||||
2 | Donington | Results | ||||
3 | Road Atlanta | Did Not Participate | Did Not Participate | Results | ||
Championship Standings
Points are awarded to cars that finish in tenth place or higher, with unclassified entries failing to complete 70% of the race distance or entries failing to reach the finish not earning championship points. One bonus point is awarded for winning pole position (denoted by bold). Double points will be awarded at Petit Le Mans.[3]
Points System | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position | Pole Position | |||||||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |||||
25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Teams Championships
The top two finishers in the LMP2, GTE Pro, and GTE Am championships earn automatic entry to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
LMP2 Standings
Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 26 | 18 | 50 | 94 | |
2 | Morgan LMP2 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 |
8 | 26 | 37 | 71 | |
3 | Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 12 | 6 | 30 | 48 | |
4 | Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 18 | 12 | 30 | ||
5 | Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 6 | 10 | 16 | ||
6 | Lola B12/80 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 15 | 0 | 15 | ||
7 | MG-Oreca 03 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15 | |
8 | Oreca 03 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 | 10 | 10 | |||
9 | Norma M200P | Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 | 4 | 4 | |||
10 | Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
– | Oreca 03 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 | 0 | 0 | |||
LMPC Standings
Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 | 1 | 26 | 27 | ||
2 | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 | 25 | 25 | |||
LM GTE Pro Standings
Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 25 | 26 | 51 | ||
2 | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 19 | 19 | |||
LM GTE Am Standings
Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 18 | 25 | 51 | 94 | |
2 | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 15 | 19 | 0 | 34 | |
3 | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 26 | 26 |
Drivers Championships
LMP2 Standings
LMPC Standings
Pos | Driver | Team | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 26 | 51 | |||
2 | 1 | 26 | 27 | |||
3 | 26 | 26 | ||||
4= | 25 | 25 | ||||
4= | 25 | 25 | ||||
5= | 1 | 1 | ||||
5= | 1 | 1 | ||||
LM GTE Pro Standings
Pos | Driver | Team | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 26 | 51 | |||
2 | 25 | 1 | 26 | |||
3 | 25 | 25 | ||||
4= | 19 | 19 | ||||
4= | 19 | 19 | ||||
LM GTE Am Standings
Pos | Driver | Team | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1= | 18 | 25 | 51 | 94 | ||
1= | 18 | 25 | 51 | 94 | ||
1= | 18 | 25 | 51 | 94 | ||
2= | 15 | 19 | 0 | 34 | ||
2= | 15 | 19 | 0 | 34 | ||
2= | 15 | 19 | 0 | 34 | ||
3= | 26 | 26 | ||||
3= | 26 | 26 | ||||
Manufacturers Cups
LMP2 Standings
Pos | Constructor | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oreca-Nissan | 44 | 33 | 50 | 127 |
2 | Morgan-Nissan | 25 | 37 | 62 | |
3 | Zytek-Nissan | 14 | 6 | 30 | 50 |
4 | Morgan-Judd | 8 | 9 | 17 | |
5 | Lola-Judd | 15 | 0 | 15 | |
6 | Oreca-Judd | 10 | 10 | ||
7 | Norma-Judd | 4 | 4 | ||
LM GTE Standings
Pos | Constructor | CAS | DON | ATL | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Porsche | 27 | 18 | 51 | 96 |
2 | Ferrari | 44 | 41 | 0 | 85 |
– | Aston Martin | 0 | 0 | ||
References
- "Tracks for Drivers..." Le Mans Series. 2011-11-22. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
- "Zolder annulé ! Des réflexions en cours pour le futur de la série". Endurance-Info.com. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
- Dagys, John (2012-07-20). "ELMS: Series Cancels Brno, Algarve, Teams Invited to Petit Le Mans". SpeedTV.com. Speed Channel. Archived from the original on 2012-07-22. Retrieved 2012-07-20.
- Dagys, John (2011-11-10). "LE MANS: LMS Confirms GTC Class For 2012". speedtv.com. Speed Channel. Archived from the original on 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
- Dagys, John (2011-09-08). "LE MANS: ACO, ORECA Launch LMPC Trophy". speedtv.com. Speed Channel. Archived from the original on 2012-06-13. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
- "ELMS 2012 Entry List" (PDF). europeanlemansseries.com. 10 February 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
- "Donington: The Participants". European Le Mans Series. Peter Auto. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
- "Le Castellet: The Participants". europeanlemansseries.com. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- "Alexander Sims joins Status GP for European Le Mans Series". Autosport.com. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
- Mercier, Laurent (2012-03-28). "6H Castellet : Alex Kapadia rejoint Curtis Racing Technologies" [6H Castellet: Alex Kapadia joined Curtis Racing Technologies]. endurance-info.com (in French). Endurance-Info. Retrieved 2012-03-29.