2012 Race of Champions

The 2012 Race of Champions was the 25th running of the event, and took place over 14–16 December 2012 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.[1][2][3] During the first day, a ROC Thailand contest was held with four local drivers to decide the identity of the Thai representatives. The top two drivers (Nattavude Charoensukawattana and Tin Sritrai) advanced to the ROC Asia contest, where they faced teams from India, China and Japan. The Thai team was guaranteed a place in the main Nations Cup, whilst the second spot was taken by the victorious Indian team formed by F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan and WEC driver Karun Chandhok.[4] During the second day, Germany took their sixth consecutive Nations Cup victory courtesy of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, beating France (Sébastien Ogier and Romain Grosjean) in the final 2–0.[5] During the final day, Romain Grosjean won the Race of Champions, beating Tom Kristensen 2–0 in a closely fought final.[6][7] In the UK, the live broadcasts of the latter two days of the event on Motors TV attracted a peak of 44,000 television viewers, a respectable figure for a satellite-only channel.[8]

2012 Race of Champions
Previous: 2011 Next: 2013

Participants
Romain Grosjean, the 2012 Champion of Champions

Champions from numerous series were invited, including Formula One (Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Romain Grosjean), MotoGP (Jorge Lorenzo and Mick Doohan), WTCC (Andy Priaulx), V8 Supercars (Jamie Whincup), PWRC (Benito Guerra) and IndyCar (Ryan Hunter-Reay).[9] Also present was eight-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. The 2012 edition marked the first time drivers from India, Thailand and Mexico have competed, whilst it was the first time since the inaugural Nations Cup event in 1999 that there were no Finnish drivers present. Reigning champion Sébastien Ogier was the only former 'Champion of Champions' in attendance.[6][10]

Team Drivers 2012 series
All-Stars Tom Kristensen[11] WEC
Jorge Lorenzo[12] MotoGP
Americas[13] Benito Guerra[13] Production WRC
Ryan Hunter-Reay[14] IndyCar Series
Australia Mick Doohan[15] none
Jamie Whincup[15] V8 Supercars
France Romain Grosjean[16] Formula One
Sébastien Ogier[16] WRC
Germany Michael Schumacher[17] Formula One
Sebastian Vettel[18] Formula One
Great Britain David Coulthard[19] DTM
Andy Priaulx[11] DTM
India Karun Chandhok[20] WEC
Narain Karthikeyan[20] Formula One
Thailand[20] Nattavude Charoensukawattana Super Car Thailand
Tin Sritrai Super Car Thailand

ROC Asia

2012 marked the inaugural ROC Asia event, with drivers from a variety of championships (including Formula One, WEC and Super GT) taking part. The top two drivers from ROC Thailand would represent Thailand in the event.[10]

Country Drivers 2012 series
China Han Han[20] China Rally and CTCC
Ho-Pin Tung[20] PCC Asia
India Karun Chandhok[20] WEC
Narain Karthikeyan[20] Formula One
Japan Takuto Iguchi[20] Super GT
Kazuya Oshima[20] Formula Nippon/Super GT
Thailand[21] Nattavude Charoensukawattana Super Car Thailand
Tin Sritrai Super Car Thailand

ROC Thailand

The ROC Thailand contest was held to decide who would represent Thailand in ROC Asia, the Nations Cup and the Race of Champions. 2001 Asian Touring Car Series champion Charoensukawattana and 1999 Formula Asia champion Horthongkum battled out with drift driver Nana and touring car driver Sritrai to be among the top 2.[10]

Country Drivers 2012 series
Thailand Nattavude Charoensukawattana Super Car Thailand
Nattapon Horthongkum Super Car Thailand
Sak Nana
Tin Sritrai Super Car Thailand

Cars

Seven cars were used throughout the event. The Toyota GT86 and Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo made their debut in this year, while the Škoda Fabia was dropped.[10]

The track
Layout of the Track

A 697 metres tarmac track was constructed in the Rajamangala Stadium.[22] The track had a bridge to connect the outer lane with the inner lane in an 8 shape track.[23] All the races were run to 2 laps (1.394 km).[23] In the first day a chicane was placed in the bridge area. The chicane was modified for the second and third day making the lap time longer.[24]

Tom Kristensen made the fastest time (1:14.0680) on the second configuration in an Audi R8 at speed of 67.75 km/h.[22]

ROC Thailand

Round Robin
Pos. Driver Wins Losses Best Time
1 Nattavude Charoensukawattana 3 0 1:21.087
2 Tin Sritrai 2 1 1:22.287
3 Nattapon Horthongkum 1 2 1:22.877
4 Sak Nana 0 3 1:24.309

Final
Winner Time Car Loser Time
Nattavude Charoensukawattana 1:21.9160 Toyota GT86 Tin Sritrai 1:22.8871

ROC Asia

Round Robin
Pos. Team Wins Losses Drivers Wins Losses Best Time
1  India 4 2 Karun Chandhok 2 1 1:19.393
Narain Karthikeyan 2 1 1:19.460
2  Japan 3 3 Kazuya Oshima 2 1 1:18.470
Takuto Iguchi 1 2 1:19.853
3  Thailand 3 3 Nattavude Charoensukawattana 2 1 1:21.110
Tin Sritrai 1 2 1:20.3364
4  China 2 4 Han Han 2 1 1:19.450
Ho-Pin Tung 0 3 1:18.2100

Final
Winner Time Car Loser Time
Narain Karthikeyan 1:20.1777 Volkswagen Scirocco Kazuya Oshima 1:20.6809
Karun Chandhok 1:21.4805 Toyota GT86 Takuto Iguchi 1:22.4326

Nations Cup

Drivers who made a false start are marked with a Yellow card in the tables, and a time penalty of 5 seconds was added to their original time.

Group A
Pos.TeamWinsLossesDriverWinsLossesBest Time
1 France 4 2 Romain Grosjean 2 1 1:16.613
Sébastien Ogier 2 1 1:16.240
2 All-Stars 3 3 Tom Kristensen 2 1 1:14.708
Jorge Lorenzo 1 2 1:23.310
3 Americas 3 3 Benito Guerra 2 1 1:22.346
Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 2 1:19.133
4 Great Britain 2 4 David Coulthard 1 2 1:15.798
Andy Priaulx 1 2 1:17.055

Group B
Pos.TeamWinsLossesDriverWinsLossesBest Time
1 Germany 6 0 Michael Schumacher 3 0 1:15.614
Sebastian Vettel 3 0 1:16.657
2 Australia 3 3 Mick Doohan 1 2 1:20.178
Jamie Whincup 2 1 1:19.385
3 India 2 4 Karun Chandhok 1 2 1:18.317
Narain Karthikeyan 1 2 1:23.169
4 Thailand 1 5 Nattavude Charoensukawattana 0 3 1:23.964
Tin Sritrai 1 2 1:19.160

Finals
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
 
 
 
 France2
 
 
 
 All-Stars0
 
 France0
 
 
 
 Germany2
 
 Germany2
 
 
 Australia0
 

Semifinals
Team 1 Time 1 Car Team 2 Time 2
France 2-0 All-Stars
Sébastien Ogier 1:15.5143 Audi R8 LMS Tom Kristensen 1:15.6365
Romain Grosjean 1:23.1327 Toyota GT86 Jorge Lorenzo 1:24.7146
Germany 2-0 Australia
Michael Schumacher 1:17.2869 Euro Racecar Jamie Whincup 1:22.1543
Sebastian Vettel 1:17.6834 Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Mick Doohan 1:19.6904

Final
Team 1 Time 1 Car Team 2 Time 2
France 0-2 Germany
Romain Grosjean 1:17.3946 KTM X-Bow Michael Schumacher 1:15.3257
Sébastien Ogier 1:20.5839 ROC Car Sebastian Vettel 1:18.6005

Race of Champions

Knockout stage
Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
         
Sébastien Ogier 0
Tom Kristensen 1
Tom Kristensen 1
David Coulthard 0
Ho-Pin Tung 0
David Coulthard 1
Tom Kristensen 0
Romain Grosjean 2
Sebastian Vettel 0
Romain Grosjean 1
Romain Grosjean 1
Michael Schumacher 0
Michael Schumacher 1
Mick Doohan 0

Quarterfinals
Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2
Sébastien Ogier 1:14.5605 Audi R8 LMS Tom Kristensen 1:14.0680
Ho-Pin Tung 1:21.7089 Volkswagen Scirocco David Coulthard 1:21.6364
Sebastian Vettel DNF KTM X-Bow Romain Grosjean 1:15.5455
Michael Schumacher 1:17.0426 Euro Racecar Mick Doohan 1:25.1853

Semifinals
Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2
Tom Kristensen 1:14.3384 Audi R8 LMS David Coulthard 1:15.8312
Romain Grosjean 1:14.8951 KTM X-Bow Michael Schumacher 1:15.3823

Final
Driver 1 Time 1 Car Driver 2 Time 2
Tom Kristensen 1:18.9348 ROC Car Romain Grosjean 1:18.4775
Romain Grosjean 1:16.0779 KTM X-Bow Tom Kristensen 1:16.4569

References
  1. Google news article from AFP
  2. The IBNLive news article on the race
  3. "Bangkok to host 25th Race Of Champions". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 25 May 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  4. "The Hindustan Times article on ROC Asia". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  5. "News Story – Team Germany win sixth ROC Nations Cup". Race Of Champions. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  6. "News Story – Grosjean crowned 2012 Champion of Champions". Race Of Champions. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  7. The Formula One official site article on the race
  8. "Motors TV coverage of Race of Champions peaks with 44,000 viewers". The F1 Broadcasting Blog. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  9. Pre-race article by Fox News
  10. The pre race participication list for the competition
  11. "Tom Kristensen and Andy Priaulx to return". autosport.com. Autosport. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  12. "Jorge Lorenzo to make Race Of Champions debut". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  13. "Guerra to partner Hunter-Reay on 'Team Americas'". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  14. "2012 IndyCar Champion Hunter-Reay to race in Bangkok". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  15. "Whincup and Doohan pair up for Team Australia". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  16. "Reigning champion Ogier partners Grosjean for Team France". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
  17. "F1's greatest driver of all time Schumacher heads to ROC in Bangkok". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  18. "F1 world champion Vettel returns to ROC in Bangkok". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  19. "David Coulthard heads to Bangkok for ROC 2012". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
  20. "Vettel and Lorenzo to go head-to-head at ROC". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
  21. "ROC Asia". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions.
  22. "Race Of Champions – 14th–16th December – Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok". TSL Timing solutions. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  23. "The Track". Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  24. "Speedcafe". Retrieved 23 January 2013.
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