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2012 European Le Mans Series

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Thiriet by TDS Racing No. 46 Oreca 03, winner of the 2012 European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class

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.

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

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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 France Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 9–10 March
1 6 Hours of Castellet France Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France 1 April
2 6 Hours of Donington United Kingdom Donington Park, Castle Donington, United Kingdom 15 July
3 Petit Le Mans United States Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia 20 October

Regulation changes

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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

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Entry List[6]
Entrant/Team Car Engine Tyre No Drivers Rounds
LMP2
United Kingdom Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 1 United Kingdom Alex Brundle All
United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith
Spain Lucas Ordóñez 1–2
United Kingdom Alex Buncombe 3
Argentina Pecom Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 10 Argentina Luís Pérez Companc 1–2
Germany Pierre Kaffer 1–2
Italy Gianmaria Bruni 1
France Soheil Ayari[7] 2
Switzerland Race Performance Oreca 03 Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 D 11 Switzerland Jonathan Hirschi 1
Switzerland Michel Frey 1
Switzerland Ralph Meichtry[8] 1
Republic of Ireland Status GP Lola B12/80 Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 D 17 United Kingdom Alexander Sims[9] 1–2
Netherlands Yelmer Buurman[9] 1
United Kingdom Dean Stirling[9] 1
France Julien Jousse[7] 2
France Maxime Jousse[7] 2
Republic of Ireland Murphy Prototypes MG-Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 18 United Kingdom Jody Firth All
United Kingdom Warren Hughes
Italy Luca Moro[8] 1
New Zealand Brendon Hartley[7] 2–3
France Sébastien Loeb Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 19 France Nicolas Marroc 1–2
France Nicolas Minassian 1–2
France Stéphane Sarrazin[8] 1–2
France OAK Racing Morgan LMP2 Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 D 24 France Jacques Nicolet 1–2
France Guillaume Moreau[8] 1
Austria Dominik Kraihamer[8] 1
France Matthieu Lahaye[7] 2
Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 35 Belgium Bertrand Baguette[7] 2–3
France Dimitri Enjalbert[7] 2
France Olivier Pla[7] 2–3
France Jacques Nicolet 3
United Kingdom Jota Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 38 United Kingdom Sam Hancock 1–2
United Kingdom Simon Dolan 1–2
France Extrême Limite ARIC Norma M200P Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8 D 44 France Fabien Rosier 1
France Philippe Thirion[8] 1
Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 45 France Bastien Brière 1
United Kingdom Jack Clarke[8] 1
Switzerland Sébastien Buemi 1
France Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5L V8 D 46 Switzerland Mathias Beche All
France Pierre Thiriet
France Christophe Tinseau 3
LMPC
Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing[8] Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2L V8 M 40 France Thomas Dagoneau[8] 1–2
Italy Massimo Vignali[8] 1
France Jean-Marc Merlin[8] 1
France Jean-Charles Battut[7] 2
United Kingdom John Hartshorne[7] 2
United Kingdom CURTIS Racing Technologies Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2L V8 M 42 United Kingdom Phil Keen 1
United Kingdom John Hartshorne 1
United Kingdom Alex Kapadia[10] 1
LM GTE Pro
Switzerland Kessel Racing[8] Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 D 61 Poland Michał Broniszewski[8] 1
Austria Philipp Peter[8] 1
United Kingdom JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 D 66 United Kingdom James Walker 1
United Kingdom Jonny Cocker[8] 1–2
Denmark Allan Simonsen 2
Monaco JMB Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 M 83 Brazil Jaime Melo 1
Italy Marco Frezza 1
LM GTE Am
Italy AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 M 60 Italy Piergiuseppe Perazzini All
Italy Marco Cioci
Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin[8]
France IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 67 France Anthony Pons All
France Nicolas Armindo
France Raymond Narac
United Kingdom Gulf Racing Aston Martin Vantage GTE Aston Martin 4.5L V8 D 69 United Kingdom Stuart Hall[8] 1
Germany Roald Goethe[8] 1
Belgium Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 M 75 Belgium Marc Goossens[8] 1
Belgium Maxime Soulet[8] 1
Monaco JMB Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari F142 4.5L V8 M 99 France Alain Ferté 1
France Philippe Illiano 1

Season results

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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 France No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing United Kingdom No. 42 CURTIS Racing Technologies United Kingdom No. 66 JMW Motorsport Belgium No. 75 Prospeed Competition Results
Switzerland Mathias Beche
France Pierre Thiriet
United Kingdom John Hartshorne
United Kingdom Alex Kapadia
United Kingdom Phil Keen
United Kingdom James Walker
United Kingdom Jonny Cocker
Belgium Marc Goossens
Belgium Maxime Soulet
2 Donington France No. 35 OAK Racing Belgium No. 40 Boutsen Ginion Racing United Kingdom No. 66 JMW Motorsport France No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Results
France Olivier Pla
France Dimitri Enjalbert
Belgium Bertrand Baguette
France Thomas Dagoneau
France Jean-Charles Battut
United Kingdom John Hartshorne
United Kingdom Jonny Cocker
Denmark Allan Simonsen
France Nicolas Armindo
France Raymond Narac
France Anthony Pons
3 Road Atlanta France No. 46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Did Not Participate Did Not Participate France No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Results
Switzerland Mathias Beche
France Pierre Thiriet
France Christophe Tinseau
France Nicolas Armindo
France Raymond Narac
France Anthony Pons

Championship Standings

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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

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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

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Pos Team Chassis Engine CAS DON ATL Total
1 France Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 1 2 3 94
2 France OAK Racing Morgan LMP2 Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8
Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8
6 1 4 71
3 United Kingdom Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 4 7 5 48
4 France Sébastien Loeb Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 2 4 30
5 Argentina Pecom Racing Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 7 5 16
6 Republic of Ireland Status GP Lola B12/80 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 3 Ret 15
7 Republic of Ireland Murphy Prototypes MG-Oreca 03 Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 Ret 3 Ret 15
8 Switzerland Race Performance Oreca 03 Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 5 10
9 France Extrême Limite ARIC Norma M200P Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 8 4
10 United Kingdom JOTA Zytek Z11SN Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 9 Ret 2
Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing Oreca 03 Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 Ret 0

LMPC Standings

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Pos Team Chassis Engine CAS DON ATL Total
1 Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 Ret 1 27
2 United Kingdom Curtis Racing Technologies Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 1 25

LM GTE Pro Standings

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Pos Team Chassis Engine CAS DON ATL Total
1 United Kingdom JMW Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 1 1 51
2 Monaco JMB Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 2 19

LM GTE Am Standings

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IMSA Performance took honors in the GTE Am class
Pos Team Chassis Engine CAS DON ATL Total
1 France IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 2 1 1 94
2 Italy AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 Ferrari 4.5 L V8 3 2 Ret 34
3 Belgium Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 1 26

Drivers Championships

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LMP2 Standings

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Pos Driver Team CAS DON ATL Total
1= France Pierre Thiriet France Thiriet by TDS Racing 1 2 3 94
1= Switzerland Mathias Beche France Thiriet by TDS Racing 1 2 3 94
2= Belgium Bertrand Baguette France OAK Racing 1 4 62
2= France Olivier Pla France OAK Racing 1 4 62
3 France Jacques Nicolet France OAK Racing 6 6 4 54
4 France Christophe Tinseau France Thiriet by TDS Racing 3 50
5= United Kingdom Alex Brundle United Kingdom Greaves Motorsport 4 7 5 48
5= United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith United Kingdom Greaves Motorsport 4 7 5 48
6= France Nicolas Marroc France Sébastien Loeb Racing 2 4 30
6= France Stéphane Sarrazin France Sébastien Loeb Racing 2 4 30
6= France Nicolas Minassian France Sébastien Loeb Racing 2 4 30
7 France Dimitri Enjalbert France OAK Racing 1 25
8 Spain Lucas Ordoñez United Kingdom Greaves Motorsport 4 7 18
9= Argentina Luís Pérez Companc Argentina Pecom Racing 7 5 16
9= Germany Pierre Kaffer Argentina Pecom Racing 7 5 16
10= United Kingdom Alexander Sims Republic of Ireland Status GP 3 Ret 15
10= United Kingdom Dean Sterling Republic of Ireland Status GP 3 15
10= Netherlands Yelmer Buurman Republic of Ireland Status GP 3 15
10= United Kingdom Jody Firth Republic of Ireland Murphy Prototypes Ret 3 Ret 15
10= United Kingdom Warren Hughes Republic of Ireland Murphy Prototypes Ret 3 Ret 15
10= New Zealand Brendon Hartley Republic of Ireland Murphy Prototypes 3 Ret 15
11= Switzerland Michel Frey Switzerland Race Performance 5 10
11= Switzerland Jonathan Hirschi Switzerland Race Performance 5 10
11= Switzerland Ralph Meichtry Switzerland Race Performance 5 10
11= France Soheil Ayari Argentina Pecom Racing 5 10
12 France Matthieu Lahaye France OAK Racing 6 9
13= France Guillaume Moreau France OAK Racing 6 8
13= Austria Dominik Kraihamer France OAK Racing 6 8
14 Italy Gianmaria Bruni Argentina Pecom Racing 7 6
15= France Fabien Rosier France Extrême Limite ARIC 8 4
15= France Philippe Thirion France Extrême Limite ARIC 8 4
16= United Kingdom Sam Hancock United Kingdom JOTA 9 Ret 2
16= United Kingdom Simon Dolan United Kingdom JOTA 9 Ret 2

LMPC Standings

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Pos Driver Team CAS DON ATL Total
1 United Kingdom John Hartshorne United Kingdom Curtis Racing Technologies
Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing
1 1 51
2 France Thomas Dagoneau Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing Ret 1 27
3 France Jean-Charles Battut Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing 1 26
4= United Kingdom Alex Kapadia United Kingdom Curtis Racing Technologies 1 25
4= United Kingdom Phil Keen United Kingdom Curtis Racing Technologies 1 25
5= France Jean-Marc Merlin Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing Ret 1
5= Italy Massimo Vignali Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing Ret 1

LM GTE Pro Standings

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Pos Driver Team CAS DON ATL Total
1 United Kingdom Jonny Cocker United Kingdom JMW Motorsport 1 1 51
2 United Kingdom James Walker United Kingdom JMW Motorsport 1 WD 26
3 Denmark Allan Simonsen United Kingdom JMW Motorsport 1 25
4= Brazil Jaime Melo Monaco JMB Racing 2 19
4= Italy Marco Frezza Monaco JMB Racing 2 19

LM GTE Am Standings

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Pos Driver Team CAS DON ATL Total
1= France Anthony Pons France IMSA Performance Matmut 2 1 1 94
1= France Nicolas Armindo France IMSA Performance Matmut 2 1 1 94
1= France Raymond Narac France IMSA Performance Matmut 2 1 1 94
2= Italy Piergiuseppe Perazzini Italy AF Corse 3 2 Ret 34
2= Italy Marco Cioci Italy AF Corse 3 2 Ret 34
2= Republic of Ireland Matt Griffin Italy AF Corse 3 2 Ret 34
3= Belgium Marc Goossens Belgium Prospeed Competition 1 26
3= Belgium Maxime Soulet Belgium Prospeed Competition 1 26

Manufacturers Cups

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LMP2 Standings

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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

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Pos Constructor CAS DON ATL Total
1 Porsche 27 18 51 96
2 Ferrari 44 41 0 85
Aston Martin 0 0

References

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  1. ^ "Tracks for Drivers..." Le Mans Series. 2011-11-22. Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2011-11-28.
  2. ^ "Zolder annulé ! Des réflexions en cours pour le futur de la série". Endurance-Info.com. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
  3. ^ a b 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "ELMS 2012 Entry List" (PDF). europeanlemansseries.com. 10 February 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Donington: The Participants". European Le Mans Series. Peter Auto. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Le Castellet: The Participants". europeanlemansseries.com. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  9. ^ a b c "Alexander Sims joins Status GP for European Le Mans Series". Autosport.com. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  10. ^ 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. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2012-03-29.
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