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.
Calendar
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 500 km 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]
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers contested the 2012 championship.
^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.
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.
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
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.