2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan

Race of Japan Japan 21 October 2012 Suzuka East Circuit.png 10 12 Suzuka City, Japan Suzuka Circuit (East Circuit) 2.243 26 26 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet 52.885 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet CHE Alain Menu 53.885 Chevrolet ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing Team ESP Pepe Oriola 54.239 Tuenti Racing The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan was the tenth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the fifth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Japan. It was held on 21 October 2012 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Japan. The first race was won by Alain Menu for Chevrolet and the second race was won by Stefano D'Aste for Wiechers-Sport. Background After the previous round in the United States at Sonoma Raceway, the championship was being led jointly by Yvan Muller and Robert Huff on 315 points. Norbert Michelisz was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy. Chevrolet had the opportunity to secure the manufacturers championship. There were a number of driver changes prior to the event, Darryl O'Young left Special Tuning Racing and later returned to bamboo-engineering.Meissner Johan Darryl O'Young returns to Bamboo Engineering http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8252 https://archive.today/20121216142824/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8252 dead 16 December 2012 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 10 October 2012 20 October 2012 His replacement at STR was German racing driver and former FIA GT1 World Championship team owner René Münnich.Mills Peter Special Tuning signs Rene Munnich for WTCC race at Suzuka http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103302 Autosport Haymarket Publications 11 October 2012 20 October 2012 Masaki Kano joined Liqui Moly Team Engstler for his home event, driving a naturally aspirated BMW 320si.Ferret Olivier Team Engstler to run 3rd car in Asia http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Team-Engstler-to-run-3rd-car-in-Asia,47562.html NextGen-Auto.com NextGen-Auto 29 August 2012 20 October 2012 Fellow Japanese racer Hiroki Yoshimoto joined Tuenti Racing Team for the event, driving the SUNRED SR León 1.6T raced up until the last event by Tiago Monteiro.Meissner Johan Hiroki Yoshimoto joins SUNRED at Suzuka http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8253 https://archive.today/20121216142149/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8253 dead 16 December 2012 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 10 October 2012 20 October 2012 Monteiro switched to Honda Racing Team JAS for the final three rounds of the championship to debut the works Honda Civic S2000 TC in order to develop the car in preparation for a full programme in 2013.Elizalde Pablo Honda confirms Tarquini and Monteiro for its first season in the WTCC http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101261 Autosport Haymarket Publications 18 July 2012 20 October 2012 Report Free Practice Muller set the pace in the Friday test session which was interrupted by a trio of red flags, leading a Chevrolet 1–2–3 with Pepe Oriola the leading SEAT in fourth.Muller quickest in Suzuka testing http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/wtcc-muller-quickest-suzuka-testing-065823407.html Yahoo! Eurosport TF1 Group 19 October 2012 20 October 2012 Chevrolet continued to set the pace on Saturday in FP1, this time courtesy of Alain Menu at the head of another Chevrolet 1–2–3. Monteiro set the fourth fastest time in his new Honda Civic and Oriola was the quickest independent driver. Local driver Yoshimoto was seventh.Hudson Neil Alain Menu leads Chevrolet 1–2–3 in FP1 http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8283 https://archive.today/20130204162536/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8283 dead 4 February 2013 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 20 October 2012 20 October 2012 Menu topped the times once again in FP2, although surprisingly the Chevrolet 1–2–3 from earlier on was not repeated as Fernando Monje set the third fastest time in his Tuenti Racing Team SEAT León.Meissner Johan Alain Menu remains on top in free practice two http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8285 https://archive.today/20130204202525/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8285 dead 4 February 2013 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 20 October 2012 20 October 2012 Qualifying After setting the pace throughout free practice, Menu went on to take pole position ahead of Muller and Huff while Chevrolet wrapped up the manufacturers title. Much of the attention was on the Honda of Monteiro, who at one point looked likely to drop out in Q1 until a last minute quick lap got him through to the second session. He finished Q2 eleventh behind Stefano D'Aste who would take his third reversed grid pole position of the year in race two. Independents' Trophy leader Michelisz could only manage fourteenth, five places behind trophy rival Oriola.Mills Peter Alain Menu claims pole as Chevrolet seals title http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103573 Autosport Haymarket Publications 20 October 2012 20 October 2012 The Team Aon duo of James Nash and Tom Chilton qualified in 19th and 21st respectively but would both start the first race at the back of the grid due to them both requiring a new engine for the event.Hudson Neil Engine changes send Arena to the back for race one http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8282 https://archive.today/20130105010225/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8282 dead 5 January 2013 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 20 October 2012 20 October 2012 Warm-Up Race two pole sitter D'Aste was the quickest driver in Sunday mornings warm up session, Michelisz was a close second. An engine change for Masaki Kano overnight would send him to the back of the race one grid.BMW top two in Suzuka warm up http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8302 https://archive.today/20130204200930/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=8302 dead 4 February 2013 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 21 October 2012 21 October 2012 Race One Menu led from start to finish leading a comfortable Chevrolet 1–2–3 in the opening Suzuka race. The lack of action near the front was representative of much of field, although Gabriele Tarquini jumped up from sixth to fourth at the start to lead home independent race winner Alex MacDowall. Having overtaken James Nash, Alberto Cerqui then quickly ended his race in the gravel at turn one. Mehdi Bennani collided with Aleksei Dudukalo while attempting a pass, Dudukalo held the car and continued while Bennani was forced to pit. Monteiro finished tenth to score a point in the debut race for the Honda Civic.Abbott Andrew Menu cruises to Japan victory http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/10/menu-cruises-to-japan-victory Touring-Cars.net Andrew Abbott 21 October 2012 21 October 2012 After the race, Dudukalo received a 30-second penalty for colliding with Bennani and he dropped to 18th in the classification, while Nash and Cerqui both received 30-second penalties for start infringements dropping Nash to 19th.Mills Peter Suzuka WTCC: Aleksei Dudukalo penalised for race one crash http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103608 Autosport Haymarket Publications 21 October 2012 22 October 2012 Race Two D'Aste started on pole position for the reverse grid race, he established a comfortable lead over second placed Oriola to take his second win of the season. Tarquini had jumped up to third place to complete the podium. Behind them, the Chevrolet trio found passing difficult and the Proteam Racing BMW of Bennani held them back for much of the race. Huff and Menu passed on the penultimate lap, while Muller passed Bennani on the final lap.D'Aste wins race two at Suzuka http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/wtcc-daste-wins-race-two-suzuka-085926119.html Yahoo! Eurosport TF1 Group 21 October 2012 22 October 2012 Independent trophy contender Michelisz spun out of the race on the first lap, allowing trophy rival Oriola to close the points gap to 12. The overall championship was once again a tie between Huff and Muller. Results Qualifying Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Q1 Q2 Points 1 8 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 52.984 52.885 5 2 1 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 52.940 52.950 4 3 2 GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 53.077 53.054 3 4 11 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 53.357 53.206 2 5 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 53.652 53.224 1 6 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 53.488 53.259 7 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 53.420 53.400 8 4 RUS Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.431 53.513 9 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.740 53.516 10 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 53.696 53.729 11 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC 53.443 53.886 12 20 CHN Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 53.608 54.491 13 6 DEU Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 53.742 14 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 53.746 15 22 GBR Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.847 16 88 ESP Fernando Monje Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 53.978 17 80 JPN Hiroki Yoshimoto Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6TY 54.002 18 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 54.030 19 14 GBR James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 54.082 20 16 ITA Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 54.100 21 23 GBR Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 54.330 22 38 DEU René Münnich Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 54.690 23 75 JPN Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320siY 55.013 Bold denotes Pole position for second race. Race 1 Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 8 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 23:44.880 1 25 2 1 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +0.812 2 18 3 2 GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +1.419 3 15 4 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 26 +13.828 6 12 5 11 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 26 +14.273 4 10 6 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 26 +19.870 7 8 7 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +20.415 9 6 8 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 26 +20.677 10 4 9 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC 26 +21.284 11 2 10 6 DEU Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 26 +21.490 13 1 11 20 CHN Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +23.724 12 12 22 GBR Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +32.605 15 13 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 26 +32.767 14 14 88 ESP Fernando Monje Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 26 +34.151 16 15 23 GBR Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +34.615 22 16 80 JPN Hiroki Yoshimoto Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6TY 26 +40.965 17 17 38 DEU René Münnich Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +48.733 20 18 4 RUS Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +49.644 8 19 14 GBR James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +1:03.894 21 20 75 JPN Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 25 +1 Lap 23 21 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 25 +1 Lap 5 22 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 23 +3 Laps 18 Ret 16 ITA Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 14 Race incident 19 Bold denotes Fastest lap. Race 2 Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 26 23:54.717 1 25 2 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +2.562 2 18 3 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 26 +2.845 5 15 4 2 GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +3.774 8 12 5 8 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +4.220 10 10 6 1 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 26 +4.568 9 8 7 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 26 +4.879 6 6 8 4 RUS Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +7.174 3 4 9 11 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 26 +7.707 7 2 10 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Honda Racing Team JAS Honda Civic S2000 TC 26 +10.583 11 1 11 6 DEU Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 26 +11.997 13 12 22 GBR Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +18.156 15 13 20 CHN Darryl O'Young bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 26 +18.945 12 14 16 ITA Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 26 +19.154 20 15 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 26 +19.492 4 16 14 GBR James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +25.856 19 17 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 26 +25.857 18 18 23 GBR Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 26 +26.142 21 19 80 JPN Hiroki Yoshimoto Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6TY 26 +34.762 17 20 38 DEU René Münnich Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 26 +35.074 22 21 75 JPN Masaki Kano Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320si Y 26 +40.576 23 Ret 88 ESP Fernando Monje Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 18 Mechanical 16 Ret 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 0 Race incident 14 Bold denotes Fastest lap. Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 FRA Yvan Muller 345 10px 2 GBR Robert Huff 345 10px 3 CHE Alain Menu 307 10px 4 ITA Gabriele Tarquini 220 10px 5 NLD Tom Coronel 172 Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 HUN Norbert Michelisz 136 10px 2 ESP Pepe Oriola 126 10px 3 ITA Stefano D'Aste 101 10px 4 GBR Alex MacDowall 95 10px 5 DEU Franz Engstler 76 Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 10px 1 USA Chevrolet 835 10px 2 DEU BMW Customer Racing Teams 543 10px 3 ESP SEAT Racing Technology 532 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings. References External links FIA WTCC Race of Japan 2012 2012 FIA WTCC Race of the United States 2012 FIA WTCC Race of China 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Japan 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Japan Japan