The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...

(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 organ ...

(ACO). The series replaced the former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup held by the ACO from 2010 to 2011. The series was open to

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

s and

grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving with performance and luxury. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with ...

-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 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 ...

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

won the Manufacturers' World Championship, while the company's driver line-up of

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 ...

of Germany, Benoît Tréluyer 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 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2013, as well as a three-time wi ...

and Tom Kristensen. Toyota's Alexander Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre were third in the Drivers' Championship standings.

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 ...

defending their two Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LMGTE manufacturers title with the Manufacturers' World Cup, outscoring

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

and

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

. In the four FIA Trophies for the four categories in the championship, Rebellion Racing 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 racing driver Jack Leconte and based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, France. The team has had considerable success in a number of sports car racing series and major ...

in LMGTE Am.

Calendar

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, while the Chinese round remained undecided between 2011's Zhuhai International Circuit or the

Shanghai International Circuit The Shanghai International Circuit (), also called the SAIC Shanghai International Circuit () for sponsorship purposes, is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai, China. The circuit is best known as the venue for the ...

. Three new races at the

Autódromo José Carlos Pace The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Autódromo de Interlagos or simply Interlagos, is a motorsport race track, circuit located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener of the S ...

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 ...

, and

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Shizuoka, Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the ...

expand the series to a new continent, replacing the former ILMC round for the

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

. 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 racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

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

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 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 ...

car in qualifying in each category. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the points allocation was doubled.

Drivers' World Championship

, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler won the Drivers' World Championship at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. They had won three races including the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

driving the No.1 car of Audi Sport Team Joest. ;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

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.

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 as ...

following four consecutive victories in the first half of the championship.

Manufacturers' World Cup

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.

secured the Manufacturers' World Cup title at the 6 Hours of Bahrain following four consecutive victories.

LMP1 Trophy

The FIA Endurance Trophy for LMP1 Teams was open to full-season

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding 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 o ...

LMP1 entries not designated as manufacturers. Only the best classified car of a team at each event scored points for the Trophy. Rebellion Racing secured the LMP1 Trophy at the 6 Hours of Fuji, 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, winning three races and earning four class

LMGTE Pro Trophy

The LMGTE Pro Trophy was won by AF Corse, who secured the championship at the 6 Hours of Bahrain. The team had finished every race of the season in either first or second place with either of their two

LMGTE Am Trophy

won the LMGTE Am Trophy at the 6 Hours of Shanghai, winning three races with either of their two

Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...

References

External links

* {{FIA World Endurance Championship World Endurance Championship FIA World Endurance Championship seasons