2012 FIA WTCC Race of Italy

Race of Italy Italy 11 March 2012 Monza track map.svg 1 12 Monza, Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza 5.793 9 9 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing Team 1:57.917 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing Team SWE Rickard Rydell 1:59.116 Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet GBR Robert Huff 1:59.000 Chevrolet The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Italy was the opening round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the eighth running of the FIA WTCC Race of Italy. It was held on 11 March 2012 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. Lukoil Racing driver Gabriele Tarquini took pole position for the first race, with Zengő Motorsport's Norbert Michelisz on pole for the second race after the top ten qualifiers were reversed.http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97960 Gabriele Tarquini puts SEAT on Monza World Touring Car pole Mills Peter 10 March 2012 Autosport 11 March 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120313040740/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97960 13 March 2012 live Haymarket Publications Both races were won by Yvan Muller for Chevrolet. Background Chevrolet and BMW would once again be represented on the grid while SEAT returned with an official customer programme. Ford would also be on the grid courtesy of the independently run Team Aon Ford Focus driven by Tom Chilton and James Nash. Chevrolet retained their lineup of defending drivers' champion Yvan Muller, Robert Huff and Alain Menu.Rolland Emmanuel The 2012 season kicks off in Monza http://www.auto123.com/en/racing-news/wtcc-the-2012-season-kicks-off-in-monza?artid=141207 Auto123.com Xprima.com Corporation 6 March 2012 8 December 2012 Darryl O'Young switched from bamboo-engineering to Special Tuning Racing.http://www.specialtuningracing.com/darryl-oyoung-to-join-str-for-2012-wtcc Darryl O'Young to join STR for 2012 WTCC 29 February 2012 Special Tuning Racing 8 December 2012 https://archive.today/20120911153432/http://www.specialtuningracing.com/darryl-oyoung-to-join-str-for-2012-wtcc 11 September 2012 dead Tom Boardman He was to be joined by Tom Boardman but due to a shortage of the new Oreca built SEAT 1.6T engine his return to the championship was delayed until the Race of Spain.Meissner Johan No Tom Boardman at Monza WTCC premiere http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7277 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 8 March 2012 8 December 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120607133739/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7277 7 June 2012 2011 STCC champion Rickard Rydell returned to the championship for the first round of the season driving a Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T.Veltman Rob Rydell aiming for opening WTCC rounds with new Cruze http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7168 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 4 February 2012 8 December 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120206061505/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7168 2012-02-06 dead Gábor Wéber joined Norbert Michelisz at Zengő Motorsport, Alex MacDowall and Pasquale di Sabatino lined up at bamboo-engineering and former Superstars Series driver Alberto Cerqui joined Tom Coronel at ROAL Motorsport. Charles Ng returned to Liqui Moly Team Engstler for a full season having raced for the team at the end of 2011.http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/02/full-season-for-charles-ng Full season for Charles Ng Abbott Andrew 27 February 2012 TouringCars.net 8 December 2012 https://archive.today/20121208230227/http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/02/full-season-for-charles-ng 8 December 2012 dead Andrew Abbott Andrea Barlesi joined SUNRED Engineering in an old specification SEAT León TDI and Isaac Tutumlu joined Mehdi Bennani at Proteam Racing. The qualifying format was changed prior to the event, with 12 cars progressing through to Q2 where the top 5 cars would score points. The top ten cars in Q2 would then be reversed to form the race two grid.Meissner Johan FIA releases updated Sporting Regulations for WTCC 2012 http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7094 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 16 December 2011 8 December 2012 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20120110082442/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7094 10 January 2012 Report Free Practice Chevrolet cars dominated the free testing session on Thursday; Muller led Huff, Menu, series rookie MacDowall and Rydell at the top of the times while Michelisz was best of the rest in his BMW 320 TC.Meissner Johan Chevrolet 1–2–3–4–5 in first Monza test http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7278 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 8 March 2012 8 December 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120607133515/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7278 7 June 2012 dead dmy-all Track action resumed on Saturday morning when Huff set the fastest time in the works Chevrolet in Free Practice 1, 0.241 seconds ahead of the Lukoil Racing Team SEAT of Gabriele Tarquini. The session was briefly stopped to clear oil from the track which had caught out Pepe Oriola and Tom Chilton.Mills Peter Huff heads Tarquini and Muller in the opening practice session at Monza http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97953 Autosport Haymarket Publications 10 March 2012 8 December 2012 It was the turn of Menu to set the fastest time in the second free practice session, setting his fastest time at the beginning of the session and remaining there until the end. Tarquini was second once again with the SEAT producing consistent straight line speed. Although the session was not stopped, yellow flags went out as the SEAT of Barlesi was removed from the gravel trap at the Parabolica.http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/03/menu-fastest-from-tarquini-in-fp2 Menu fastest from Tarquini in FP2 Abbott Andrew 10 March 2012 TouringCars.net 8 December 2012 https://archive.today/20130222161436/http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/03/menu-fastest-from-tarquini-in-fp2 22 February 2013 dead Andrew Abbott Qualifying Tarquini took pole position, the first non-Chevrolet pole since the 2010 Race of Spain, where pole was also taken by Tarquini in a SEAT. Muller would start on the front row but he only made it into Q2 thanks to a tow from his team mates, who lined up behind him on the second row. Q1 had been red flagged with under two minutes remaining as the ROAL Motorsport car of Cerqui ended up in the gravel trap at the Parabolica. The session was restarted but without enough time to complete a timed lap so most of the cars remained in the pits. Twelve cars progressed to Q2 with Oriola taking the independents' trophy pole and Michelisz claiming the reversed grid pole for race two.http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97960 Gabriele Tarquini puts SEAT on Monza World Touring Car pole Mills Peter 10 March 2012 Autosport 8 December 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20120313040740/http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97960 13 March 2012 dead Haymarket Publications Warm-Up Muller was fastest in the Sunday morning warm up session, that was stopped due to a fire for Special Tuning Racing driver O'Young. He stopped the car and evacuated; the damage was enough to rule him out of participating in the rest of the weekend.Hudson Neil Yvan Muller leads disrupted warm up at Monza http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7304 https://archive.today/20130204141617/http://www.touringcartimes.com/article.php?id=7304 dead 4 February 2013 TouringCarTimes Mediaempire Stockholm AB 11 March 2012 8 December 2012 Race One Tarquini started from pole but was soon passed by Muller. A mistake by Muller at the end of the lap allowed Tarquini to regain the lead but the positions switched back on lap two. Huff later passed Tarquini for second to seal a Chevrolet 1–2. A first lap collision forced Tiago Monteiro to retire and delayed Stefano D'Aste and Franz Engstler. Rydell ran as high as third during the race but had to settle for fourth at the end, ahead of Coronel and independents' trophy winner Oriola. Menu finished a distant seventh from his team mates and MacDowall was the top rookie with eighth.Mills Peter Yvan Muller passes Gabriele Tarquini to win World Touring Car Championship season-opener at Monza http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97968 Autosport Haymarket Publications 11 March 2012 8 December 2012 Race Two Michelisz started on the reversed grid pole position and escaped many of the tangles that caught out some of the more experienced drivers behind him. A second lap nudge from Huff approaching the first chicane sent Muller into a spin and caught out Tarquini behind. Muller went through the chicane and across the grass backwards but he recovered without losing much time while Tarquini punctured a tyre and retired. From there, Muller picked off the cars ahead one at a time to catch up with race leader Michelisz. Passing Michelisz proved difficult and at one point, third placed Coronel was able to take second from Muller before losing it again shortly after. Michelisz struck a pigeon on lap seven and Muller passed him later on that lap. Michelisz lost some pace after this and dropped down the order, to fifth by the end of the lap, eventually finishing eighth. Rydell had a bad start and recovered to tenth place to score another point in his one off outing. Muller led a Chevrolet 1–2–3 with Menu second and Huff third; D'Aste was the Yokohama Trophy winner after finishing fifth.http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/03/muller-secures-eventful-monza-win Muller secures eventful Monza win Abbott Andrew 11 March 2012 TouringCars.net 8 December 2012 https://archive.today/20130222121553/http://www.touring-cars.net/2012/03/muller-secures-eventful-monza-win 22 February 2013 dead Andrew Abbott Results Qualifying Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Q1 Q2 Points 1 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 1:58.004 1:57.915 5 2 1 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:58.191 1:57.974 4 3 2 GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:58.243 1:58.106 3 4 8 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:58.527 1:58.200 2 5 9 SWE Rickard Rydell Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:59.144 1:58.319 1 6 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 1:59.120 1:58.389 7 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 1:58.532 1:58.412 8 11 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:59.262 1:58.507 9 4 RUS Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 1:58.942 1:58.649 10 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 1:58.524 1:58.652 11 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 1:59.187 1:58.931 12 27 HUN Gábor Wéber Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 1:59.350 1:59.348 13 6 DEU Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1:59.435 14 14 GBR James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 1:59.563 15 23 GBR Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 1:59.723 16 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Tuenti Racing SEAT León TDi 1:59.743 17 16 ITA Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 1:59.841 18 12 ITA Pasquale Di Sabatino bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 1:59.891 19 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1:59.949 20 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 2:00.300 21 40 BEL Andrea Barlesi SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TDI Y 2:00.394 22 24 ESP Isaac Tutumlu Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 2:01.333 23 20 HKG Darryl O'Young Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCC Y No time 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 1 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 26:01.705 2 25 2 2 GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +0.446 3 18 3 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 12 +2.305 1 15 4 9 SWE Rickard Rydell Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +2.745 5 12 5 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 12 +3.796 6 10 6 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 12 +6.111 7 8 7 8 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +6.326 4 6 8 11 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 +8.287 8 4 9 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +8.431 10 2 10 16 ITA Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +9.257 16 1 11 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +9.465 11 12 6 DEU Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 12 +12.082 12 13 23 GBR Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 12 +12.668 14 14 12 ITA Pasquale Di Sabatino bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 12 +15.886 17 15 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 12 +48.135 18 16 14 GBR James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 12 +56.503 13 17 27 HUN Gábor Wéber Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 11 Damage 22 18 4 RUS Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 10 Mechanical 9 Ret 24 ESP Isaac Tutumlu Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 2 Engine 21 Ret 40 BEL Andrea Barlesi SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TDI Y 1 Collision 20 Ret 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 1 Collision 19 Ret 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Tuenti Racing SEAT León TDi 0 Collision 15 DNS 20 HKG Darryl O'Young Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCC Y Fire at warm-up Bold denotes Fastest lap. Race 2 Pos. Position No. Car number Name Team Car C Class Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 1 FRA Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 20:07.643 9 25 2 8 CHE Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +0.307 7 18 3 2 GBR Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +0.613 8 15 4 15 NLD Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 10 +0.993 5 12 5 26 ITA Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TC Y 10 +6.125 11 10 6 6 DEU Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 10 +6.705 12 8 7 11 GBR Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 10 +7.247 3 6 8 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 10 +10.238 1 4 9 16 ITA Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 10 +12.663 16 2 10 9 SWE Rickard Rydell Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 10 +14.066 6 1 11 27 HUN Gábor Wéber Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 10 +14.202 22 12 74 ESP Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 10 +14.575 4 13 14 GBR James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 10 +18.279 13 14 25 MAR Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 10 +18.775 19 15 40 BEL Andrea Barlesi SUNRED Engineering SEAT León TDI Y 10 +24.880 20 16 23 GBR Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 10 +25.586 14 17 24 ESP Isaac Tutumlu Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 10 +35.129 21 18 18 PRT Tiago Monteiro Tuenti Racing SEAT León TDi 9 Mechanical 15 19 12 ITA Pasquale Di Sabatino bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 8 Mechanical 17 Ret 3 ITA Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 1 Accident 10 Ret 7 HKG Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 1 Mechanical 18 DNS 4 RUS Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 0 Electrical 2 DNS 20 HKG Darryl O'Young Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCC Y Fire at warm-up Bold denotes Fastest lap. Pepe Oriola started from the pitlane. Standings after the round Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 FRA Yvan Muller 54 10px 2 GBR Robert Huff 36 10px 3 CHE Alain Menu 26 10px 4 NLD Tom Coronel 22 10px 5 ITA Gabriele Tarquini 20 Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 10px 1 ITA Stefano D'Aste 14 10px 2 ESP Pepe Oriola 14 10px 3 GBR Alex MacDowall 14 10px 4 DEU Franz Engstler 12 10px 5 HUN Norbert Michelisz 11 Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 10px 1 USA Chevrolet 93 10px 2 ESP SEAT Racing Technology 49 10px 3 DEU BMW Customer Racing Teams 49 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings. References Results Booklet PDF at FIAWTCC.comSeptember 2018 InternetArchiveBot yes FIA WTCC Race of Italy 2012 2011 Guia Race of Macau 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Spain 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Italy 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Italy Italy FIA WTCC Race of Italy