Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
sports

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

2012 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil


The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil was the eighth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the seventh running of the FIA WTCC Race of Brazil. It was held on 22 July 2012 at the Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba in Pinhais, Brazil. Both races were won by Chevrolet with Yvan Muller winning race one and Robert Huff winning race two.

Background

In the break prior to the event, Chevrolet announced they were pulling out of the World Touring Car Championship at the end of the season. This would leave Muller, Huff and Alain Menu without drives for the 2013 season. It was Yvan Muller who was leading the championship coming into Brazil on 245 points ahead of Huff and Menu. Pepe Oriola was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

In the weeks prior to Brazil, Honda also announced their 2013 driver lineup. Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro would join the works team for the following season, with Monteiro also driving for them in the final three events of the 2012 season.

Pasquale di Sabatino, recovering from bronchitis and pneumonia was ruled out of competing by doctors. Michel Nykjær substituted for the Italian driver at bamboo-engineering for the weekend.

Report

Free Practice

Muller led a Chevrolet 1–2–3 in free practice one with Tarquini in fourth ahead of the bamboo-engineering Chevrolet duo of Michel Nykjær and Alex MacDowall.

Muller topped the times once again in the second free practice session ahead of both his Chevrolet teammates. Behind them it was the future Honda duo of Tarquini and Monteiro in front of the bamboo-engineering drivers.

Qualifying

After leading both free practice sessions, Muller took his third pole position of the season with Menu second and Huff third. Nykjær lined up fourth on his return to the WTCC with Tarquini the leading non-Chevrolet driver in fifth. Norbert Michelisz finished 10th in Q2 to take the reversed grid pole position for race two.

Warm-Up

Muller led a Chevrolet 1–2–3–4 in Sunday morning's warm-up session with Tarquini the fastest non-Chevrolet car.

Race One

The three Chevrolet cars led from the start and had an easy race with the exception of third placed Huff who had to defend from the SEAT of Tarquini. A coming together on the second lap forced both Monteiro and Alberto Cerqui into retirement. Tarquini finished fourth behind the works Chevrolet cars, led by Muller and ahead of the bamboo-engineering pair of Nykjær and MacDowall. Nykjær celebrated his return to the WTCC as the winning independent driver. Michelisz finished ahead of Oriola in the independents' race which would see him close in the Yokohama Trophy title lead. A last lap coming together between Stefano D'Aste and Franz Engstler for fifteenth landed D'Aste with a 30-second penalty after the race, dropping him to seventeenth.

Race Two

Michelisz started on pole position for the second race and he held the lead until half distance when he got passed by Tarquini, Huff, Menu and Muller on the same lap. Huff and Menu were then able to overtake the Italian driver and use him as a buffer between themselves and championship leader Muller. A coming together between ROAL Motorsport's Cerqui and Lukoil Racing Team's Aleksei Dudukalo forced the BMW to crash into the pit wall and retirement. At the flag Huff and Menu formed a Chevrolet 1–2 with Tarquini third and Muller missing out on a podium in fourth. Michelisz finished fifth as the winning independent as Oriola watched on from the pits having retired from the race, his Yokohama Trophy lead lost to the Zengő Motorsport driver.

Results

Qualifying

Pos.No.NameTeamCarCQ1Q2Points123456789101112131415161718192021
1FRA Yvan MullerChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T1:22.8241:22.2895
8CHE Alain MenuChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T1:22.8771:22.4444
2GBR Robert HuffChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T1:23.4731:22.5923
17DNK Michel Nykjærbamboo-engineeringChevrolet Cruze 1.6TY1:23.5671:22.7652
3ITA Gabriele TarquiniLukoil RacingSEAT León WTCC1:23.7641:22.9471
11GBR Alex MacDowallbamboo-engineeringChevrolet Cruze 1.6TY1:22.7261:23.086
20CHN Darryl O'YoungSpecial Tuning RacingSEAT León WTCCY1:23.9941:23.366
18PRT Tiago MonteiroTuenti RacingSR León 1.6T1:24.2121:23.500
15NLD Tom CoronelROAL MotorsportBMW 320 TC1:23.7361:23.516
5HUN Norbert MicheliszZengő MotorsportBMW 320 TCY1:23.9841:23.622
4RUS Aleksei DudukaloLukoil RacingSEAT León WTCCY1:24.0651:23.630
25MAR Mehdi BennaniProteam RacingBMW 320 TCY1:24.2711:23.927
16ITA Alberto CerquiROAL MotorsportBMW 320 TCY1:24.293
74ESP Pepe OriolaTuenti RacingSEAT León WTCCY1:24.360
7HKG Charles NgLiqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320 TCY1:24.528
22GBR Tom BoardmanSpecial Tuning RacingSEAT León WTCCY1:24.601
6DEU Franz EngstlerLiqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320 TCY1:24.652
88ESP Fernando MonjeTuenti RacingSEAT León WTCCY1:24.700
14GBR James NashTeam AonFord Focus S2000 TC1:24.902
23GBR Tom ChiltonTeam AonFord Focus S2000 TC1:24.986
26ITA Stefano D'AsteWiechers-SportBMW 320 TCY1:25.121
  • Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1

Pos.No.NameTeamCarCLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints12345678910111213141516171819NCRet
1FRA Yvan MullerChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T1522:05.549125
8CHE Alain MenuChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T15+0.398218
2GBR Robert HuffChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T15+0.933315
3ITA Gabriele TarquiniLukoil RacingSEAT León WTCC15+2.767512
17DNK Michel Nykjærbamboo-engineeringChevrolet Cruze 1.6TY15+5.656410
11GBR Alex MacDowallbamboo-engineeringChevrolet Cruze 1.6TY15+6.63968
20CHN Darryl O'YoungSpecial Tuning RacingSEAT León WTCCY15+13.85076
15NLD Tom CoronelROAL MotorsportBMW 320 TC15+15.55294
5HUN Norbert MicheliszZengő MotorsportBMW 320 TCY15+15.721102
88ESP Fernando MonjeTuenti RacingSEAT León WTCCY15+19.896181
4RUS Aleksei DudukaloLukoil RacingSEAT León WTCCY15+20.55211
25MAR Mehdi BennaniProteam RacingBMW 320 TCY15+29.40512
7HKG Charles NgLiqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320 TCY15+31.62115
14GBR James NashTeam AonFord Focus S2000 TC15+35.09319
6DEU Franz EngstlerLiqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320 TCY15+38.97617
74ESP Pepe OriolaTuenti RacingSEAT León WTCCY15+46.61314
26ITA Stefano D'AsteWiechers-SportBMW 320 TCY15+1:01.67521
23GBR Tom ChiltonTeam AonFord Focus S2000 TC15+1:05.41120
22GBR Tom BoardmanSpecial Tuning RacingSEAT León WTCCY13+2 Laps16
16ITA Alberto CerquiROAL MotorsportBMW 320 TCY9+6 Laps13
18PRT Tiago MonteiroTuenti RacingSR León 1.6T1Collision8
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

Pos.No.NameTeamCarCLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints1234567891011121314151617RetRetRetRet
2GBR Robert HuffChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T1623:49.750825
8CHE Alain MenuChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T16+1.099918
3ITA Gabriele TarquiniLukoil RacingSEAT León WTCC16+1.496615
1FRA Yvan MullerChevroletChevrolet Cruze 1.6T16+1.7581012
5HUN Norbert MicheliszZengő MotorsportBMW 320 TCY16+4.958110
17DNK Michel Nykjærbamboo-engineeringChevrolet Cruze 1.6TY16+12.84978
15NLD Tom CoronelROAL MotorsportBMW 320 TC16+14.07226
25MAR Mehdi BennaniProteam RacingBMW 320 TCY16+14.477124
18PRT Tiago MonteiroTuenti RacingSR León 1.6T16+15.50632
4RUS Aleksei DudukaloLukoil RacingSEAT León WTCCY16+16.263111
11GBR Alex MacDowallbamboo-engineeringChevrolet Cruze 1.6TY16+16.5525
22GBR Tom BoardmanSpecial Tuning RacingSEAT León WTCCY16+19.24316
26ITA Stefano D'AsteWiechers-SportBMW 320 TCY16+19.78521
88ESP Fernando MonjeTuenti RacingSEAT León WTCCY16+26.41118
14GBR James NashTeam AonFord Focus S2000 TC16+30.66219
23GBR Tom ChiltonTeam AonFord Focus S2000 TC15+1 Lap20
74ESP Pepe OriolaTuenti RacingSEAT León WTCCY13+3 Laps14
16ITA Alberto CerquiROAL MotorsportBMW 320 TCY8Collision13
20CHN Darryl O'YoungSpecial Tuning RacingSEAT León WTCCY4Gearbox4
7HKG Charles NgLiqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320 TCY2Collision15
6DEU Franz EngstlerLiqui Moly Team EngstlerBMW 320 TCY1Mechanical17
  • Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the round

;Drivers' Championship standings

PosDriverPoints
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]1FRA Yvan Muller
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]2GBR Robert Huff
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]3CHE Alain Menu
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 14ITA Gabriele Tarquini
[[File:1downarrow red.svg10px]] 15NLD Tom Coronel

;Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings

PosDriverPoints
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 11HUN Norbert Michelisz
[[File:1downarrow red.svg10px]] 12ESP Pepe Oriola
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]3ITA Stefano D'Aste
[[File:1uparrow green.svg10px]] 14GBR Alex MacDowall
[[File:1downarrow red.svg10px]] 15DEU Franz Engstler

;Manufacturers' Championship standings

PosManufacturerPoints
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]1USA Chevrolet
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]2DEU BMW Customer Racing Teams
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg10px]]3ESP SEAT Racing Technology
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

References

  1. Abbott, Andrew. (4 July 2012). "Chevrolet announce end of WTCC programme". Andrew Abbott.
  2. Elizalde, Pablo. (18 July 2012). "Honda confirms Tarquini and Monteiro for its first season in the WTCC". [[Haymarket Media Group.
  3. Hudson, Neil. (19 July 2012). "Michel Nykjaer to replace Di Sabatino in Brazil". Mediaempire Stockholm AB.
  4. Hudson, Neil. (21 July 2012). "Yvan Muller fastest in Free Practice 1 in Curitiba". Mediaempire Stockholm AB.
  5. Abbott, Andrew. (21 July 2012). "Muller quickest again in Brazil". Andrew Abbott.
  6. Mills, Peter. (21 July 2012). "Yvan Muller beats Alain Menu to Curitiba World Touring Car Championship pole in all-Chevrolet battle". [[Haymarket Media Group.
  7. Hudson, Neil. (22 July 2012). "Yvan Muller leads Rob Huff in Curitiba warm-up". Mediaempire Stockholm AB.
  8. (22 July 2012). "ROUNDS 15 & 16 – CURITIBA RACE REPORT". Kigema Sport Organisation.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report