The 2012 6 Hours of Bahrain was an
auto race held at
Bahrain International Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit () is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2 Championship, FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Formula One season, 2004 Gr ...
,
Sakhir
Sakhir () is a desert area located in the Southern Governorate of Bahrain, near Zallaq. It contains the Al-Sakhir Palace, built in 1870.
Camping in Sakhir during the winter months is a popular activity in the country.
Notable sites
In the earl ...
,
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
on Saturday 29 September 2012. It was the inaugural running of the
6 Hours of Bahrain and the sixth round of the
2012 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
The race was dominated by
Audi Sport Team Joest who swept to a 1–2 victory with
Benoît Tréluyer,
Marcel Fässler and
André Lotterer
André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German racing driver, who most recently competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Porsche in motorsport, Porsche. In formula racing, Lotterer competed in Formula One at the in , and Formu ...
taking a one lap win over the
Audi R18 e-tron quattro of
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 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013, as well as a three-time wi ...
and
Tom Kristensen.
Nicolas Lapierre for
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
lead early in the race only to pit with faulty number plate illumination, losing over ten minutes in the pits before ultimately retired after a collision. The
Strakka Racing HPD claimed third, six laps behind the winners.
The LMP2 category was won by the
Pecom Racing Oreca 03
The Oreca 03 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Oreca in 2011. It is built within the revised 2011 ACO regulations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car made its début at the 12 Hours of Sebring run by Signatech Nissan and set to race at the 201 ...
driven by
Pierre Kaffer
Pierre Kaffer (born 7 November 1976 in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Rhineland-Palatinate) is a race car driver from Germany, currently living in Switzerland.
Career
In 1990, Kaffer started in Kart racing, Karting, moving in 1994 to Formula Ford, late ...
,
Nicolas Minassian
Nicolas Minassian (Armenian language, Armenian: ; born 28 February 1973) is a French people, French professional racing driver of Armenians, Armenian descent.
After finishing 2nd place in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, Marseille-born Minassia ...
and
Luís Pérez Companc
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...
, who held a two lap gap over the bulk of the class
Signatech
Signatech, currently competing as the Alpine Endurance Team, is a French auto racing team and racing car constructor that competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Signatech has been a long-term partner for Alpine since 2013, and has been ...
's of
Jordan Tresson,
Olivier Lombard
Olivier Lombard (born 25 April 1991 in Poissy) is a French racing driver, racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Signatech-Nissan.
Career
After karting from 2004 to 2008, Olivier Lombard began racing cars in 2009 when he contested th ...
and
Franck Mailleux finished in second place. The
AF Corse Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
pair of
Toni Vilander and
Giancarlo Fisichella
Giancarlo "Giano" Fisichella (; born 14 January 1973), also known as Fisico or Fisi, is an Italian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . Fisichella won three Formula One Grands Prix across 14 seasons.
Bo ...
won LMGTE Pro by a lap over
Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin Racing is a British auto racing team established in 2004 as a partnership between automobile manufacturer Aston Martin and engineering group Prodrive. The partnership was initially created for the purpose of returning Aston ...
, which allowed AF Corse to wrap up the class championship. AF Corse's
Olivier Beretta, driving another Ferrari, was excluded from the event after making avoidable contact with Greaves Motorsports'
Ricardo González.
Porsche won LMGTE Am class with the
Team Felbermayr-Proton
Proton Competition (also formerly racing as Dempsey-Proton Racing or Team Felbermayr-Proton) is a German auto racing team based in Ummendorf, Baden-Württemberg. It was founded by Gerold Ried, and is currently owned by his son Christian Ried. Th ...
997 of Christian Ried, Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti leading by a lap over the
Waltrip Ferrari.
Qualifying
Qualifying result
Pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
winners in each class are marked in bold.
Race
Race result
Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).
*
Olivier Beretta was excluded from the race by the stewards for making avoidable contact. The No. 71 Ferrari's result was not affected.
References
{{8 Hours of Bahrain
8 Hours of Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
6 Hours