The 2012 International V8 Supercar Championship (often simplified to the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the fourteenth running of the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the sixteenth series in which V8 Supercars have contested the premier Australian touring car title. The championship began on 1 March at the Clipsal 500 and concluded on 2 December at the Homebush Street Circuit. The 53rd Australian Touring Car Championship title was awarded to the winner of the Drivers' Championship by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.
Jamie Whincup and Triple Eight Race Engineering started the season as the defending drivers' and teams' champions. At Winton, the penultimate event of the season, Whincup secured his defence of the Drivers Championship, with Triple Eight Race Engineering also wrapping up the Teams Championship. Whincup's teammate Craig Lowndes took second in the points standings from Mark Winterbottom, of Ford Performance Racing, at the final round of the series to give Triple Eight their second consecutive 1–2 finish in the Drivers Championship.
The championship was contested over thirty races at fifteen events.
A provisional calendar was released on 8 October 2011.[1]
Phillip Island and Sandown switched formats. Phillip Island hosted a standalone race meeting in May, while Sandown returned to the 500km endurance race format. The Sandown 500 featured a revised qualifying format.
The Queensland 300 was changed from the three-race structure which was used in 2011, returning to a more traditional two-race format.[4]
An additional international event was planned for the weekend of 11 November, confirmed by the Philippine Sports Commission to be held at Clark International Speedway but never ratified by V8 Supercars.[5] At the 2012 Adelaide 500, V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane said that the vacant place was "unlikely" to be filled by an Australian venue.[6] On 22 April 2012, it was announced that an international location could not be secured for the November date, and the Winton event was moved to November to replace it. The Sydney Motorsport Park at Eastern Creek made a return to the calendar after a three-year absence to fill in Winton's original August date.[7]
The following teams and drivers contested the 2012 championship.
More information Season entries, Endurance entries ...
^1 — For points-scoring purposes, Kelly Racing was recognised as two separate entities: "Jack Daniel's Racing", which is made up of car No. 7 and car #15; and "Kelly Racing", which consisted of cars No. 11 and No. 51.
^2 — The No. 23 wildcard entry was prepared by Dunlop Series team Minda Motorsport and operated by Kelly Racing.[79]
Dick Johnson Racing expanded to three cars with Dean Fiore moving his Triple F Racing franchise to become a satellite team within DJR. Under the terms of the arrangement, Fiore would continue to use the No. 12 from the Triple F REC with Jim Beam sponsoring he and Steven Johnson, while James Moffat would acquire Norton as major sponsor for the No. 18 car.[23] DJR later announced a fourth car by securing a lease of a Paul Morris Motorsport owned Racing Entitlement Contract with Steve Owen being confirmed as the driver.[26]
Greg Murphy was ruled out of the Symmons Plains round due to a back injury sustained in a collision during the 2012 Clipsal 500. Dunlop Series driver David Russell replaced him for the event. Two weeks before the event at Hidden Valley Raceway, Murphy suffered a relapse of his back injury and Kelly Racing announced that he would be forced to sit out until at least the Sandown 500 endurance race.[84] David Russell was retained as Murphy's replacement for Hidden Valley,[85] with 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve joining the team for Townsville,[49] Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park events.[86]
Todd Kelly was ruled out of the final four events of the 2012 season, after undergoing surgery for a shoulder injury sustained in a training accident.[38] Kelly's endurance partner, Tim Blanchard, replaced him for the remainder of the season.[39]
Scott McLaughlin replaced Alexandre Prémat for Race 30 in Sydney after Prémat had to be removed from his car suffering from dehydration during Race 29 the day before.[70]
Points were awarded to the driver or drivers of a car that had completed 75% of the race distance and was running at the completion of the final lap. Various different points scales were applied to events having one, two, or three, ensuring that a driver would be awarded 300 points for winning all races at any event.
More information Event format, Position ...
Event format
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
Two-race
150
138
129
120
111
102
96
90
84
78
72
69
66
63
60
57
54
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
—
Three-race
100
92
86
80
74
68
64
60
56
52
48
46
44
42
40
38
36
34
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
Sandown qualifying races
50
46
43
40
37
34
32
30
28
26
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
Sandown 500
200
184
172
160
148
136
128
120
112
104
96
92
88
84
80
76
72
68
64
60
56
52
48
44
40
36
32
28
Bathurst 1000
300
276
258
240
222
204
192
180
168
156
144
138
132
126
120
114
108
102
96
90
84
78
72
66
60
54
48
42
36
Close
Notes:
Two-race format: denotes all races except the Perth, Sandown, Bathurst, Surfers Paradise, and Abu Dhabi events.
Three-race format: the Trading Post Perth Challenge at Barbagallo Raceway and the Yas Marina Circuit V8 Supercar Event at the Yas Marina Circuit consisted of three races rather than two. The total number of points on offer for each position remained the same as in other rounds, but were divided evenly across the three races.
Sandown: two drivers share one car for the main race. The first qualifying race was for non-regular co-drivers, while the regular championship drivers contested the second qualifying race. Points from each race were awarded to both drivers.
Bathurst: two drivers share one car for the race. The full points total was awarded to both drivers.
Surfers Paradise: each of the 28 regular drivers is required to have an international co-driver,[88] who is eligible to score points in the race. An "international co-driver" is defined as a driver who is known for competing in racing series outside Australia (the driver may be Australian but primarily raced in Asia, Europe, or the Americas), as opposed to a driver who competes with a racing licence issued by a country outside Australia and New Zealand (as is the case with Alexandre Premat, a Frenchman who is contesting the series as a regular driver).
"Abu Dhabi Race Format Confirmed". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. 19 October 2012. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
"Holding pattern". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
"McLaughlin Signs With Tekno". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. 1 February 2012. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
"Fujitsu re-signs with GRM". Official site of the Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series. 8 October 2011. Archived from the original on 10 October 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2011.