From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

2012 FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia

The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia was the fourth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the maiden running of the FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia. It was held on 29 April 2012 at the Automotodróm Slovakia Ring in Orechová Potôň, Slovakia. The first race was won by Gabriele Tarquini for Lukoil Racing Team and the second race was won by Robert Huff for Chevrolet.

Background

Chevrolet came to Slovakia on the back of winning the first six races of the season, with Yvan Muller leading the championship 24 points ahead of Alain Menu. Pepe Oriola was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Gábor Wéber returned with Zengő Motorsport after missing the previous round in Morocco due to cost concerns. Isaac Tutumlu sat out the Race of Slovakia after his Proteam Racing team failed to repair his car in time after damage was sustained in Marrakech. SUNRED Engineering's Andrea Barlesi was unable to continue in the World Touring Car Championship after Marrakech with his budget having run out.

Report

Free practice

Oriola was the quickest driver in the opening practice session on Friday, ahead of the Lukoil SEAT León of Tarquini and the Team Aon Ford Focus of James Nash. The session was briefly red flagged when the engine in Tiago Monteiro's León cut out.

It was Chevrolet's turn to top the times in the second free practice sessions, with Menu topping the times ahead of Yvan Muller. After the session had ended, Tarquini beached his car in the gravel having finished the session tenth fastest.

Qualifying

Norbert Michelisz took his first WTCC pole position to beat the Lukoil Racing Team drivers of Aleksei Dudukalo in second and Tarquini in third. A red flag towards the end of Q1 for Franz Engstler's stranded BMW 320 TC prevented Tom Coronel from progressing into the second session. Nash, who had qualified a career best fourth, failed a ride-height check in post-qualifying scrutineering and was dropped ten places on the grid for both races.

Warm-up

Muller led the Sunday morning warm-up session with Nash second, Huff third and Oriola fourth.

Race one

Michelisz led into the first corner but contact with second placed Tarquini would drop him down the order, and further contact with Muller dropped him down to sixth and earned the Chevrolet driver a drive-through penalty. Oriola had briefly climbed into second place before a puncture and the subsequent trip into the gravel ended his challenge. Tarquini led a Lukoil Racing Team 1-2 finish the chequered flag with Menu third for Chevrolet. Dudukalo was the winning driver in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Race two

Stefano D'Aste started on the reversed grid pole and led down into turn one. The Chevrolet trio and Tarquini took the lead when the Wiechers-Sport driver ran wide. Dudukalo was issued with a drive through penalty for failing to have all four wheels on his car on the ground when the five-minute board was shown before the race. Huff led Muller and Menu until Tarquini took his third place. ROAL Motorsport's Tom Coronel also overtook Menu before the Swiss retired with a broken rim. Huff took his first win of the year ahead of Muller and Tarquini, with Oriola the winner in the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Results

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Q1	Q2
5	HUN Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.148	2:12.990	5
4	RUS Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	2:13.975	2:13.076	4
3	ITA Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC		2:14.414	2:13.137	3
14	GBR James Nash	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		2:13.540	2:13.317	2
18	PRT Tiago Monteiro	Tuenti Racing	SR León 1.6T		2:14.030	2:13.322	1
1	FRA Yvan Muller	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		2:13.621	2:13.366
2	GBR Robert Huff	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		2:13.725	2:13.575
74	ESP Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	2:13.301	2:13.684
8	CHE Alain Menu	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		2:13.790	2:13.721
26	ITA Stefano D'Aste	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.166	2:14.668
23	GBR Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		2:14.447	2:14.766
16	ITA Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.331	2:15.288
15	NLD Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		2:14.490
6	DEU Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.676
25	MAR Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.823
20	CHN Darryl O'Young	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	2:14.856
11	GBR Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	2:15.039
12	ITA Pasquale Di Sabatino	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	2:15.756
7	HKG Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:16.129
27	HUN Gábor Wéber	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:16.536
22	GBR Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León TDi	Y	13:11.823

Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

: — James Nash received a ten place grid penalty for failing a post-qualifying ride height check. : — Despite not having classified in qualifying, Tom Boardman was allowed to start at the back of the grid for both races.

Race 1

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
3	ITA Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC		10	22:42.275	3	25
4	RUS Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+2.484	2	18
8	CHE Alain Menu	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	+4.194	8	15
16	ITA Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+6.992	11	12
26	ITA Stefano D'Aste	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+7.978	9	10
5	HUN Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+9.943	1	8
20	CHN Darryl O'Young	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+11.164	15	6
22	GBR Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León TDi	Y	10	+20.643	21	4
27	HUN Gábor Wéber	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+20.961	19	2
1	FRA Yvan Muller	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	+21.174	5	1
25	MAR Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+21.787	20
11	GBR Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	10	+22.676	16
12	ITA Pasquale Di Sabatino	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	10	+31.153	17
15	NLD Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		10	+41.395	12
7	HKG Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+1:42.494	18
74	ESP Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	7	+3 Laps	7
2	GBR Robert Huff	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		7	+3 Laps	6
6	DEU Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	5	Race incident	13
18	PRT Tiago Monteiro	Tuenti Racing	SR León 1.6T		1	Race incident	4
23	GBR Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		0	Race incident	10
14	GBR James Nash	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		0	Race incident	14

Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid
2	GBR Robert Huff	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	22:38.101	4	25
1	FRA Yvan Muller	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	+2.029	5	18
3	ITA Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC		10	+2.555	7	15
15	NLD Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		10	+8.859	12	12
74	ESP Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+9.352	3	10
5	HUN Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+9.553	9	8
25	MAR Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+11.675	13	6
16	ITA Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+12.773	11	4
20	CHN Darryl O'Young	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+14.161	14	2
23	GBR Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		10	+20.847	10	1
22	GBR Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León TDi	Y	10	+30.073	17
12	ITA Pasquale Di Sabatino	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	10	+30.617	16
6	DEU Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+30.964	18
26	ITA Stefano D'Aste	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+32.757	1
4	RUS Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+41.317	8
18	PRT Tiago Monteiro	Tuenti Racing	SR León 1.6T		6	Engine	6
8	CHE Alain Menu	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		3	Race incident	2
11	GBR Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	2	Race incident	15
27	HUN Gábor Wéber	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	1	Race incident	20
7	HKG Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	0	Collision damage	19
14	GBR James Nash	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		0	Collision damage	WD

Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the round

;Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	1	FRA Yvan Muller
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	2	GBR Robert Huff
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	3	CHE Alain Menu
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	4	NLD Tom Coronel
[[File:1uparrow green.svg	10px]] 1	5	ITA Gabriele Tarquini

;Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings

Pos	Driver	Points
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	1	ESP Pepe Oriola
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	2	ITA Stefano D'Aste
[[File:1uparrow green.svg	10px]] 1	3	HUN Norbert Michelisz
[[File:1downarrow red.svg	10px]] 1	4	DEU Franz Engstler
[[File:1uparrow green.svg	10px]] 2	5	ITA Alberto Cerqui

;Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
[[File:1rightarrow blue.svg	10px]]	1	USA Chevrolet
[[File:1uparrow green.svg	10px]] 1	2	ESP SEAT Racing Technology
[[File:1downarrow red.svg	10px]] 1	3	DEU BMW Customer Racing Teams

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

Hudson, Neil. "Nobody knows what to expect at the Slovakiaring". TouringCarTimes.
Hudson, Neil. "Isaac Tutumlu will miss Slovakia". TouringCarTimes.
Auger, Matt. "Barlesi targets WTCC return". Touring-Cars-net.
Abbott, Andrew. "Oriola on top in first Slovakia practice". Touring-Cars-net.
Hudson, Neil. "Alain Menu leads Muller in second free practice in Slovakia". TouringCarTimes.
Hudson, Neil. "Norbert Michelisz storms to Slovakia pole". TouringCarTimes.
Mills, Peter. "Nash handed 10-place grid penalty". [[Haymarket Group.
Hudson, Neil. "Yvan Muller leads James Nash in morning warm up". TouringCarTimes.
(April 2019). "ROUNDS 7 & 8 – SLOVAKIA RING RACE REPORT". World Touring Car Championship.
"Decision N° 11". World Touring Car Championship.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

2012-world-touring-car-championship-season 2012-in-slovak-sport fia-wtcc-race-of-slovakia

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report