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.

2012 Race of Slovakia

Race details
Round 4 of 12 in the 2012 World Touring Car Championship at Automotodróm Slovakia Ring in Orechová Potôň, Slovakia.
Date	29 April, 2012
Location	Orechová Potôň, Slovakia
Course	Automotodróm Slovakia Ring 5.922 kilometres (3.680 mi)
Race One
Laps 10 Pole position Driver Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Time 2:12.990 Podium First Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing Team Second Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing Team Third Alain Menu Chevrolet Fastest Lap Driver Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport Time 2:14.606
Race Two
Laps 10 Podium First Robert Huff Chevrolet Second Yvan Muller Chevrolet Third Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing Team Fastest Lap Driver Yvan Muller Chevrolet Time 2:14.508

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.[1] 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.[2] SUNRED Engineering's Andrea Barlesi was unable to continue in the World Touring Car Championship after Marrakech with his budget having run out.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[6] 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.[7]

Warm-Up

Muller led the Sunday morning warm-up session with Nash second, Huff third and Oriola fourth.[8]

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.[9]

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.[9]

Results

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Q1	Q2	Points
1	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.148	2:12.990	5
2	4	Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	2:13.975	2:13.076	4
3	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC		2:14.414	2:13.137	3
4^1	14	James Nash	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		2:13.540	2:13.317	2
5	18	Tiago Monteiro	Tuenti Racing	SR León 1.6T		2:14.030	2:13.322	1
6	1	Yvan Muller	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		2:13.621	2:13.366
7	2	Robert Huff	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		2:13.725	2:13.575
8	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	2:13.301	2:13.684
9	8	Alain Menu	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		2:13.790	2:13.721
10	26	Stefano D'Aste	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.166	2:14.668
11	23	Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		2:14.447	2:14.766
12	16	Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.331	2:15.288
13	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		2:14.490
14	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.676
15	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:14.823
16	20	Darryl O'Young	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	2:14.856
17	11	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	2:15.039
18	12	Pasquale Di Sabatino	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	2:15.756
19	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:16.129
20	27	Gábor Wéber	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	2:16.536
NC^2	22	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León TDi	Y	13:11.823

• Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

^1 — James Nash received a ten place grid penalty for failing a post-qualifying ride height check.[7]

^2 — Despite not having classified in qualifying, Tom Boardman was allowed to start at the back of the grid for both races.[10]

Race 1

Pos.	No.	Name	Team	Car	C	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC		10	22:42.275	3	25
2	4	Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+2.484	2	18
3	8	Alain Menu	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	+4.194	8	15
4	16	Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+6.992	11	12
5	26	Stefano D'Aste	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+7.978	9	10
6	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+9.943	1	8
7	20	Darryl O'Young	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+11.164	15	6
8	22	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León TDi	Y	10	+20.643	21	4
9	27	Gábor Wéber	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+20.961	19	2
10	1	Yvan Muller	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	+21.174	5	1
11	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+21.787	20
12	11	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	10	+22.676	16
13	12	Pasquale Di Sabatino	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	10	+31.153	17
14	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		10	+41.395	12
15	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+1:42.494	18
16	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	7	+3 Laps	7
17	2	Robert Huff	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		7	+3 Laps	6
Ret	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	5	Race incident	13
Ret	18	Tiago Monteiro	Tuenti Racing	SR León 1.6T		1	Race incident	4
Ret	23	Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		0	Race incident	10
Ret	14	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	Points
1	2	Robert Huff	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	22:38.101	4	25
2	1	Yvan Muller	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		10	+2.029	5	18
3	3	Gabriele Tarquini	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC		10	+2.555	7	15
4	15	Tom Coronel	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC		10	+8.859	12	12
5	74	Pepe Oriola	Tuenti Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+9.352	3	10
6	5	Norbert Michelisz	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+9.553	9	8
7	25	Mehdi Bennani	Proteam Racing	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+11.675	13	6
8	16	Alberto Cerqui	ROAL Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+12.773	11	4
9	20	Darryl O'Young	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+14.161	14	2
10	23	Tom Chilton	Team Aon	Ford Focus S2000 TC		10	+20.847	10	1
11	22	Tom Boardman	Special Tuning Racing	SEAT León TDi	Y	10	+30.073	17
12	12	Pasquale Di Sabatino	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	10	+30.617	16
13	6	Franz Engstler	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+30.964	18
14	26	Stefano D'Aste	Wiechers-Sport	BMW 320 TC	Y	10	+32.757	1
15	4	Aleksei Dudukalo	Lukoil Racing	SEAT León WTCC	Y	10	+41.317	8
Ret	18	Tiago Monteiro	Tuenti Racing	SR León 1.6T		6	Engine	6
Ret	8	Alain Menu	Chevrolet	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T		3	Race incident	2
Ret	11	Alex MacDowall	bamboo-engineering	Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T	Y	2	Race incident	15
Ret	27	Gábor Wéber	Zengő Motorsport	BMW 320 TC	Y	1	Race incident	20
DNS	7	Charles Ng	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	BMW 320 TC	Y	0	Collision damage	19
DNS	14	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 1 Yvan Muller 149 2 Robert Huff 122 3 Alain Menu 121 4 Tom Coronel 89 1 5 Gabriele Tarquini 87

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Pepe Oriola 62 2 Stefano D'Aste 53 1 3 Norbert Michelisz 47 1 4 Franz Engstler 38 2 5 Alberto Cerqui 25

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 337 1 2 SEAT Racing Technology 219 1 3 BMW Customer Racing Teams 208

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

References

1. Hudson, Neil. "Nobody knows what to expect at the Slovakiaring". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
2. Hudson, Neil. "Isaac Tutumlu will miss Slovakia". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
3. Auger, Matt. "Barlesi targets WTCC return". Touring-Cars.net. Touring-Cars-net. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
4. Abbott, Andrew. "Oriola on top in first Slovakia practice". Touring-Cars.net. Touring-Cars-net. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
5. Hudson, Neil. "Alain Menu leads Muller in second free practice in Slovakia". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
6. Hudson, Neil. "Norbert Michelisz storms to Slovakia pole". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 2012-07-25. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
7. Mills, Peter. "Nash handed 10-place grid penalty". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
8. Hudson, Neil. "Yvan Muller leads James Nash in morning warm up". TouringCarTimes. TouringCarTimes. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
9. "ROUNDS 7 & 8 – SLOVAKIA RING RACE REPORT" (PDF). World Touring Car Championship. World Touring Car Championship. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
10. "Decision N° 11" (PDF). FIA. World Touring Car Championship. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 3 July 2012.

External links

World Touring Car Championship
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Previous race: none	FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia	Next race: 2013 FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia