2012 Auto GP World Series season

2012 Auto GP World Series season
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The 2012 Auto GP World Series season was the third year of the Auto GP series, and the fourteenth season of the former Euroseries 3000. The championship began on 11 March at Monza in Italy and finished on 23 September at Sonoma in the United States, after seven double-header rounds.

Each meeting's sprint race now lasts for a longer duration – a minimum of 90 km (55.9 mi), up from 70 km (43.5 mi) – while also introducing a mandatory pit-stop to the race.[1] The series also introduced an overboost system that has already been used in the FIA Formula Two Championship.[2] The points system for the second race was also amended.[3]

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs won the opening race of the season at Monza after qualifying on pole position by 0.04 seconds.[4] Pål Varhaug finished in second place and returnee Daniël de Jong attained his maiden podium in third.[5] The reverse-grid second race was won by Varhaug, who left the meeting tied for the championship lead with Quaife-Hobbs.[6] Three weeks later at Valencia, Quaife-Hobbs claimed pole again, but was unable to convert pole into another win, losing to Sergey Sirotkin, who became the youngest Auto GP winner,[7] while Varhaug completed the podium. Quaife-Hobbs and Sirotkin continued their battle into the sprint race until an error during Sirotkin's pit-stop ended the battle early. Sirotkin recovered to finish the race in third place behind Quaife-Hobbs – who extended his championship lead with the race win – and Facu Regalia, who scored his first podium.[8] Two weeks later, the series' first non-European round was held in Morocco, where Sirotkin claimed his first pole position.[9] He made a poor getaway, after being distracted by a marshal at the start.[10] he lost many positions with Varhaug taking the lead. Varhaug was chased by Italian Formula Three champion Sergio Campana, leading until the pit-stop phase. Varhaug stalled in pit lane, losing positions to both Campana and Quaife-Hobbs, with Campana eventually taking his first series win, and the first for Team MLR71, after a close battle with Quaife-Hobbs.[11] Sirotkin took the lead at the start of the second race, but lost time after his pit-stop, allowing Manor MP Motorsport's Chris van der Drift through to take his first win in the series ahead of Sirotkin. Varhaug, Quaife-Hobbs and Giacomo Ricci battled over the final podium position with Varhaug taking the position on-the-road before receiving a 25-second time penalty post-race for cutting a chicane. Ricci was promoted into third place ahead of Quaife-Hobbs, while Varhaug dropped to seventh and lost ground in the championship, falling behind Sirotkin, who moved into second.[12]

Teams and drivers

Team No. Driver Rounds
Spain Campos Racing[13] 1 Argentina Facu Regalia[14] 1–5
United Kingdom Pippa Mann[15] 7
2 Italy Giuseppe Cipriani[13] All
3 Russia Max Snegirev[13] All
Italy Team MLR71[16] 5 Italy Sergio Campana[17] 1–5
Italy Giacomo Ricci[18] 7
71 Italy Michele La Rosa[17] All
United Kingdom Virtuosi UK[19] 6 Italy Matteo Beretta[17] 1
Estonia Sten Pentus[20] 2
Italy Francesco Dracone[21] 3–7
7 Norway Pål Varhaug[22] All
Austria Zele Racing[23] 8 Italy Giacomo Ricci[17] 1, 3
Italy Matteo Beretta[24] 2
Estonia Sten Pentus[25] 4–5
Italy Sergio Campana[26] 7
9 Austria Peter Milavec[24] 2
Mexico Juan Carlos Sistos[27] 5
Brazil Antônio Pizzonia[26] 7
United Kingdom Super Nova International 10 United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs[17] All
11 Brazil Victor Guerin[28] 1–5
Italy Euronova Racing[29] 12 Russia Sergey Sirotkin[30] All
14 Italy Antonio Spavone[17] 1–5
Italy Sergio Campana 6
Japan Kotaro Sakurai[31] 7
Italy Ombra Racing 23 China Adderly Fong[17] 1, 4
Brazil Yann Cunha[32] 2–3
Brazil Antônio Pizzonia[33] 6
Italy Antonio Spavone[34] 7
45 Venezuela Giancarlo Serenelli[35] 1–5, 7
Brazil Rafael Suzuki 6
Netherlands Manor MP Motorsport[36] 32 Netherlands Daniël de Jong[36] All
33 New Zealand Chris van der Drift[17] 1–6

Race calendar and results

A seven-round calendar was published on 23 December 2011,[37] with all rounds supporting World Touring Car Championship events. On 9 March 2012, it was announced that the Portuguese round moved from Estoril to Portimão.[38]

Round Circuit/Location Country Date Pole Position Fastest Lap Winning Driver Winning Team Supporting
1 R1 Autodromo Nazionale Monza  Italy 10 March United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Russia Sergey Sirotkin United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Super Nova International FIA WTCC Race of Italy
R2 11 March Russia Sergey Sirotkin Norway Pål Varhaug United Kingdom Virtuosi UK
2 R1 Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia  Spain 31 March United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Russia Sergey Sirotkin Russia Sergey Sirotkin Italy Euronova Racing FIA WTCC Race of Spain
R2 1 April Russia Sergey Sirotkin United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Super Nova International
3 R1 Marrakech Street Circuit  Morocco 14 April Russia Sergey Sirotkin Italy Sergio Campana Italy Sergio Campana Italy Team MLR71 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco
R2 15 April Russia Sergey Sirotkin New Zealand Chris van der Drift Netherlands Manor MP Motorsport
4 R1 Hungaroring  Hungary 5 May United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Super Nova International FIA WTCC Race of Hungary
R2 6 May United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Norway Pål Varhaug United Kingdom Virtuosi UK
5 R1 Autódromo Internacional do Algarve  Portugal 2 June United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Super Nova International FIA WTCC Race of Portugal
R2 3 June United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs United Kingdom Super Nova International
6 R1 Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba  Brazil 21 July United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Netherlands Daniël de Jong Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Italy Ombra Racing FIA WTCC Race of Brazil
R2 22 July Norway Pål Varhaug Brazil Antônio Pizzonia Italy Ombra Racing
7 R1 Sonoma Raceway  United States 22 September United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Netherlands Daniël de Jong Norway Pål Varhaug United Kingdom Virtuosi UK FIA WTCC Race of the United States
R2 23 September Netherlands Daniël de Jong Russia Sergey Sirotkin Italy Euronova Racing

Championship standings

Race
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Race One 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
Race Two 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

In addition:

Drivers' Championship

Pos Driver MNZ
Italy		 VAL
Spain		 MAR
Morocco		 HUN
Hungary		 ALG
Portugal		 CUR
Brazil		 SON
United States		 Points
1 United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 6 12† Ret 2 221
2 Norway Pål Varhaug 2 1 3 8 3 7 5 1 2 Ret 2 5 1 5 183
3 Russia Sergey Sirotkin 14 4 1 3 6 2 13† 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 175
4 New Zealand Chris van der Drift 5 2 6 7 4 1 7 5 8 2 5 2 127
5 Netherlands Daniël de Jong 3 Ret 4 4 7 Ret 11 12 7 7 4 3 2 6 104
6 Italy Sergio Campana 10 13 5 9 1 13 Ret 7 5 4 11† 8 4 3 90
7 Argentina Facu Regalia 4 9 7 2 Ret 10 3 10 6 5 68
8 Brazil Victor Guerin 15 11 16† 5 Ret 5 2 Ret 4 Ret 46
9 Brazil Antônio Pizzonia 1 1 Ret 12† 45
10 Italy Antonio Spavone 8 5 9 11 8 Ret 8 8 11 9 8 4 41
11 Italy Giacomo Ricci 6 14 5 3 5 11† 40
12 Venezuela Giancarlo Serenelli 9 8 11 12 11 11 4 9 10 6 6 Ret 34
13 Russia Max Snegirev 7 6 8 6 13 Ret Ret 11 12 8 10† 7 Ret 7 34
14 Italy Giuseppe Cipriani 11 10 12 14 Ret 9 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 18
15 Estonia Sten Pentus 10 10 9 4 14† Ret 14
16 Italy Francesco Dracone 10 8 10 14 13 10 8 9 Ret 9 14
17 Brazil Rafael Suzuki 7 6 12
18 Brazil Yann Cunha 13 Ret 9 6 8
19 Japan Kotaro Sakurai 7 Ret 6
20 United Kingdom Pippa Mann 9 8 5
21 China Adderly Fong 13 7 Ret 13 4
22 Italy Michele La Rosa 12 12 14 15 12 12 12 Ret DNS 11 9 11 10 10 4
23 Mexico Juan Carlos Sistos 9 Ret 2
24 Italy Matteo Beretta DNS 15 17† 13 0
25 Austria Peter Milavec 15 16 0
Pos Driver MNZ
Italy		 VAL
Spain		 MAR
Morocco		 HUN
Hungary		 ALG
Portugal		 CUR
Brazil		 SON
United States		 Points
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole for Race One
Italics – Fastest Lap

Under-21 Trophy

Pos Driver MNZ
Italy		 VAL
Spain		 MAR
Morocco		 HUN
Hungary		 ALG
Portugal		 CUR
Brazil		 SON
United States		 Points
1 United Kingdom Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 6 12† Ret 2 250
2 Russia Sergey Sirotkin 14 4 1 3 6 2 13† 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 216
3 Norway Pål Varhaug 2 1 3 8 3 7 5 1 2 Ret 2 5 1 5 208
4 Netherlands Daniël de Jong 3 Ret 4 4 7 Ret 11 12 7 7 4 3 2 6 137
5 Argentina Facu Regalia 4 9 7 2 Ret 10 3 10 6 5 96
6 Italy Antonio Spavone 8 5 9 11 8 Ret 8 8 11 8 8 4 96
7 Brazil Victor Guerin 15 11 16† 5 Ret 5 2 Ret 4 Ret 66
8 Brazil Yann Cunha 13 Ret 9 6 24
10 Japan Kotaro Sakurai 7 Ret 12
9 Italy Matteo Beretta DNS 15 17† 13 9
10 Mexico Juan Carlos Sistos 9 Ret 6
Pos Driver MNZ
Italy		 VAL
Spain		 MAR
Morocco		 HUN
Hungary		 ALG
Portugal		 CUR
Brazil		 SON
United States		 Points

Teams' Championship

Pos Team MNZ
Italy		 VAL
Spain		 MAR
Morocco		 HUN
Hungary		 ALG
Portugal		 CUR
Brazil		 SON
United States		 Points
1 United Kingdom Super Nova International 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 6 12† Ret 2 267
15 11 16† 5 Ret 5 2 Ret 4 Ret
2 Netherlands Manor MP Motorsport 3 2 4 4 4 1 7 5 7 2 4 2 2 6 231
5 Ret 6 7 7 Ret 11 12 8 7 5 3
3 Italy Euronova Racing 8 4 1 3 6 2 8 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 219
14 5 9 11 8 Ret 13† 8 11 9 11† 8 7 Ret
4 United Kingdom Virtuosi UK 2 1 3 8 3 7 5 1 2 10 2 5 1 5 198
DNS 15 10 10 10 8 10 14 13 Ret 8 9 Ret 9
5 Spain Campos Racing 4 6 7 2 13 9 3 6 6 5 10† 7 9 7 124
7 9 8 6 Ret 10 6 10 12 8 Ret 10 Ret 8
6 Italy Ombra Racing 9 7 11 12 9 6 4 9 10 6 1 1 6 4 117
13 8 13 Ret 11 11 Ret 13 7 6 8 Ret
7 Italy Team MLR71 10 12 5 9 1 12 12 7 5 4 9 11 5 10 77
12 13 14 15 12 13 Ret Ret DNS 11 10 11†
8 Austria Zele Racing 6 14 15 13 5 3 9 4 9 Ret 4 3 68
17† 16 14† Ret Ret 12†
Pos Team MNZ
Italy		 VAL
Spain		 MAR
Morocco		 HUN
Hungary		 ALG
Portugal		 CUR
Brazil		 SON
United States		 Points
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole for Race One
Italics – Fastest Lap

References

  1. ↑ "Longer distance and pit-stop for Race 2 in 2012". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 25 November 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Auto GP introduces Overboost for 2012". Auto GP (Auto GP Organization). 2 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "More points awarded for Race 2". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 29 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
  4. ↑ "Quaife-Hobbs takes first World Series pole". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 9 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Race 1: Quaife-Hobbs from flag to flag". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 10 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  6. ↑ "Varhaug clinches Race 2 win in Monza". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 11 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Sirotkin clinches Race 1 win in Valencia". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 31 March 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Quaife-Hobbs storms to Valencia Race 2 win". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 1 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  9. ↑ "Sirotkin takes Marrakech pole". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 13 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  10. ↑ Mills, Peter (14 April 2012). "Sirotkin says start board confusion to blame for delayed getaway in race one". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 16 April 2012. I saw there was a marshal carrying a five-second board to the side of the grid, and I was waiting for him to raise it.
  11. ↑ "Campana beats Quaife-Hobbs to Race 1 win". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 14 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "Van der Drift clinches Race 2 win". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 15 April 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 "Facu Regalia, Max Snegirev y Guseppe Cipriani son los pilotos Campos Racing en el Campeonato de AUTOGP 2012" [Facu Regalia, Max Snegirev and Giuseppe Cipriani are the Campos Racing pilots for 2012 AUTOGP Championship]. Campos Racing (in Spanish) (Campos Racing Team). 22 February 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Regalia joins the Auto GP grid with Campos". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 29 December 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  15. ↑ "Pippa Mann joins Campos Racing in Sonoma". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 10 September 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  16. ↑ "Team MLR71 is the first new entry for 2012". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 2 November 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.7 "16 drivers on the Auto GP World Series grid". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 8 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  18. ↑ "Ricci on the grid with MLR71 in Sonoma". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 12 September 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  19. ↑ "New British team joins Auto GP grid for 2012 season". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 12 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Pentus joins the Series with Virtuosi UK". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 27 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
  21. ↑ Mills, Peter (13 April 2012). "Sergio Campana leads Marrakech Auto GP practice". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 13 April 2012. Norwegian Varhaug has a new team-mate at Virtuosi UK this weekend. Former Euro Series 3000 veteran and IndyCar starter Franceso Dracone replaces Formula Renault 3.5 race winner Sten Pentus.
  22. ↑ Rubino, Jacopo (5 March 2012). "Pal Varhaug nel primo round di Monza con il team Virtuosi UK" [Pal Varhaug in first round at Monza for team Virtuosi UK]. stopandgo.tv (in Italian) (Stop&Go). Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  23. ↑ "Zele Racing targets Auto GP commitment". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 21 January 2012. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Matteo Beretta and Peter Milavec to race with Zele-Racing at Valencia". zele-racing.com (Zele Racing). 28 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  25. ↑ "Fong and Pentus back on the grid". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 2 May 2012. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Pizzonia and Campana on the grid in Sonoma". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  27. ↑ "Sistos joins Zele Racing in Portimão". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 31 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
  28. ↑ Rubino, Jacopo (5 March 2012). "Victor Guerin "agguanta" il sedile della Super Nova in Auto GP" [Victor Guerin grabs the Super Nova's seat in Auto GP]. stopandgo.tv (in Italian) (Stop&Go). Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  29. ↑ "Euronova Racing returns to Auto GP". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 2 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  30. ↑ "Sirotkin stays with Euronova for double programm". euronova-racing.com (Euronova Racing). 19 February 2012. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
  31. ↑ "Sakurai in Sonoma with Euronova Racing". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 21 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  32. ↑ "Cunha in Valencia with Ombra Racing". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 28 March 2012. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  33. ↑ "Pizzonia joins Ombra Racing in Curitiba". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 18 July 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  34. ↑ "Spavone back in the Series with Ombra Racing". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 14 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  35. ↑ "Serenelli joins Auto GP with Ombra Racing". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organization). 13 January 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 "MP team and Daniel de Jong commit to full Auto GP campaign in 2012". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 27 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  37. ↑ "Dates & Events 2012". Auto GP World Series. Auto GP Organization. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
  38. ↑ "Portimão replaces the Estoril round". Auto GP World Series (Auto GP Organisation). 9 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.

External links