2012 FIA Formula Two Championship

2012 FIA Formula Two season
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The 2012 FIA Formula Two Championship was the fourth season and the last of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The season started on 14 April at Silverstone and finished on 30 September at Monza. The 2012 calendar saw the addition of two new races.^[1]

In the opening round at Silverstone, the first pole of the season was claimed by Mathéo Tuscher, the youngest driver to have taken part in the series.^[2] Tuscher was overtaken by Christopher Zanella on the first lap of the opening race; Zanella was later joined by Mihai Marinescu and Luciano Bacheta out front, with Bacheta eventually prevailing over Zanella with series debutant Alex Fontana in third.^[3] Marinescu claimed pole position for the second race,^[4] but could not stop Bacheta taking his second win of the weekend; Fontana again completed the podium, behind Marinescu.^[5]

Drivers

No.	Driver	Sponsor(s)	Rounds
3	Max Snegirev[6]	Klaxon/London School of Business and Finance	2–5, 7–8
4	Luciano Bacheta[7]	Comma/Trade Links	All
5	Parthiva Sureshwaren[8]	LycaMobile	1–4
6	Vittorio Ghirelli[9]		4
7	David Zhu[10]	KRC (Kang's Racing Company)	All
8	Plamen Kralev[11]	Bulgarian State/Kram Complex/BRP	All
9	Mihai Marinescu[12]	Brasov/Visit Romania	All
10	Alex Fontana[13]	VFP/Teleticino/Lista Office	All
11	Kourosh Khani[12]	Tornado Racer/Sports Tracker	1–2, 4–5
12	Mathéo Tuscher[12]		All
13	José Luis Abadín[12]	Gadis/Ourensen/Anpian/Racing For Galicia	1
14	Mauro Calamia[12]	Don Leone	1–6
15	Victor Guerin[14]		2
18	Dino Zamparelli[12]	Vibe Energy Gum	All
19	Christopher Zanella[15]	Star Group/Sodecia	All
20	Daniel McKenzie[16]	Enghouse Interactive	All
22	Axcil Jefferies[17]	Afri-Hype/Visit Zimbabwe	3–8
23	Samuele Buttarelli[12]		1
24	Kevin Mirocha[12]	Polsat	All
27	Markus Pommer[18]	Live-Strip.com	All
33	Harald Schlegelmilch[19]	www.333.lv/JK 11/Baltic	8
35	Hector Hurst[20]	Seahorse International Sailing	All
51	Richard Gonda[21]		7

Driver changes

Entering/Re–Entering FIA Formula Two Championship

• Samuele Buttarelli switched from Auto GP to the championship.
• Formula Renault ALPS driver Mauro Calamia graduated into Formula Two in 2012.
• European F3 Open champion Alex Fontana graduated to the series.
• After competing in the first three rounds of the Auto GP World Series, Victor Guerin joined the series ahead of the Portimão round.^[14]
• Daniel McKenzie moved into the series from the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.
• After competing in the GP2 Series in 2011, Kevin Mirocha switched to the FIA Formula Two Championship.
• After finishing seventh in the German Formula Three Championship, Markus Pommer graduated into Formula Two in 2012.
• Formula Pilota China champion Mathéo Tuscher and eighth-placed David Zhu moved into the championship.
• Formula Renault BARC champion Dino Zamparelli as well as fourth-placed Kourosh Khani and thirteenth-placed Hector Hurst all joined the championship.

Leaving FIA Formula Two Championship

• Alex Brundle joined Carlin in the GP3 Series.^[22]
• Jack Clarke and Benjamin Lariche switched to sportscar racing, joining the European Le Mans Series and FIA GT1 World Championship respectively.^[23][24]
• Armaan Ebrahim moved to the United States to compete in Firestone Indy Lights.^[25]
• Jordan King switched to the Formula Renault Eurocup with Manor MP Motorsport.^[26]
• Jon Lancaster graduated to the GP2 Series with Ocean Racing Technology.^[27]

Race calendar and results

An eight-race calendar was published by the FIA World Motor Sport Council on 7 December 2011.^[1]

Round		Circuit/Location	Country	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver
1	R1	Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire	United Kingdom	14 April	Mathéo Tuscher	Mihai Marinescu	Luciano Bacheta
	R2			15 April	Mihai Marinescu	Luciano Bacheta	Luciano Bacheta
2	R1	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão	Portugal	28 April	Luciano Bacheta	Mathéo Tuscher	Luciano Bacheta
	R2			29 April	Mathéo Tuscher	Luciano Bacheta	Luciano Bacheta
3	R1	Nürburgring	Germany	26 May	Mihai Marinescu	Mihai Marinescu	Mihai Marinescu
	R2			27 May	Christopher Zanella	Christopher Zanella	Christopher Zanella
4	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Belgium	23 June	Markus Pommer	Markus Pommer	Markus Pommer
	R2			24 June	Luciano Bacheta	Luciano Bacheta	Luciano Bacheta
5	R1	Brands Hatch, Kent	United Kingdom	14 July	Luciano Bacheta	Mihai Marinescu	Kevin Mirocha
	R2			15 July	Mihai Marinescu	Christopher Zanella	Mihai Marinescu
6	R1	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	France	21 July	Mathéo Tuscher	Christopher Zanella	Mathéo Tuscher
	R2			22 July	Markus Pommer	Luciano Bacheta	Markus Pommer
7	R1	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	Hungary	8 September	Kevin Mirocha	Alex Fontana	Alex Fontana
	R2			9 September	Markus Pommer	Markus Pommer	Markus Pommer
8	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Italy	29 September	Mathéo Tuscher	Christopher Zanella	Mathéo Tuscher
	R2			30 September	Markus Pommer	Luciano Bacheta	Christopher Zanella

Calendar changes

• As in 2011, the series will take place over sixteen races at eight rounds, but the overall length of the calendar has been shortened from seven months to six.
• Two new rounds are to be introduced for the 2012 season, with races due to take place at Circuit Paul Ricard and the Hungaroring.
• After being removed from the 2011 calendar, the series will return to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.
• The races at the Red Bull Ring, Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours and Circuit de Catalunya will be discontinued to make way for new and returning races.

Championship standings

Pos Driver SIL ALG NÜR SPA BRH LEC HUN MNZ Points 1 Luciano Bacheta 1 1 1 1 2 6 Ret 1 3 6 2 5 3 8 4 3 231.5 2 Mathéo Tuscher 6 5 2 2 5 3 3 8 2 Ret 1 2 Ret 2 1 5 210 3 Christopher Zanella 2 8 6 4 3 1 5 4 6 2 8 3 5 6 2 1 196 4 Markus Pommer 8 7 4 3 9 4 1 2 5 5 5 1 NC 1 8 14 169 5 Mihai Marinescu 4 2 10 Ret 1 2 4 12 4 1 7 7 Ret 7 6 4 161 6 Kevin Mirocha 12 11 3 8 4 10 Ret 3 1 4 6 4 2 4 3 2 159.5 7 Alex Fontana 3 3 7 10 6 5 8 5 Ret 7 14 Ret 1 5 9 6 115 8 Dino Zamparelli 9 6 8 5 13 7 7 10 Ret 3 4 6 6 3 7 7 106.5 9 Daniel McKenzie 5 4 13 6 8 8 2 18 10 8 3 8 4 9 11 10 95 10 Hector Hurst 7 10 9 7 10 11 9 9 7 12 9 Ret Ret 14 Ret Ret 27 11 David Zhu 11 9 5 12 7 9 10 13 Ret 13 13 12 10 11 12 11 22 12 Axcil Jefferies 14 DNS Ret 7 8 9 10 10 Ret 10 10 8 17 13 Harald Schlegelmilch 5 9 12 14 Vittorio Ghirelli 6 6 12 15 Max Snegirev 17 15 Ret 14 Ret 16 Ret 14 7 15 14 12 6 16 Richard Gonda 8 12 4 17 Plamen Kralev 15 15 15 13 11 DNS 13 17 11 Ret 12 9 9 13 13 13 4 18 Mauro Calamia 14 12 12 11 15 13 12 14 9 11 11 11 2 19 Victor Guerin 11 9 2 20 Kourosh Khani 10 13 14 Ret Ret 15 Ret 10 2 21 Parthiva Sureshwaren 16 14 16 14 12 12 11 11 0 22 José Luis Abadín 13 16 0 Samuele Buttarelli Ret Ret 0 Pos Driver SIL ALG NÜR SPA BRH LEC HUN MNZ Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Retired, but classified

• Spa Race 2 ran only four laps, and the race was red-flagged because of rain and crashes on Lap 3 that resulted in a caution. The race was subsequently red-flagged, and under the count-back rule in red flag situations, the race lasted only three laps for a total time of 9:38.007, much less than the 30 minutes required in the 40-minute race, so only half points are awarded as the race did not reach the 75% required for full points.

References

1. "Formula 2 to visit five current grand prix circuits in 2012". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 7 December 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
2. "Tuscher secures superb pole for opening Silverstone race". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 14 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
3. "Luciano Bacheta wins thrilling Silverstone opener". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 14 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
4. "Marinescu secures pole for second Silverstone race". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 15 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
5. "Bacheta completes superb Silverstone double". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 15 April 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
6. "Max Snegirev returns for remainder of F2 seasont". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 23 April 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
7. "Luciano Bacheta returns for F2 title assault". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 20 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
8. "Parthiva Sureshwaren secures F2 return for 2012". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 13 February 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
9. "Vittorio Ghirelli joins Spa F2 test line-up". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 19 June 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
10. "David Zhu confirms place on F2 grid in 2012". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 7 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
11. "Plamen Kralev confirms place on 2012 F2 grid". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 13 March 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
12. "2012 F2 season gets underway!". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 13 April 2012. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
13. "Alex Fontana graduates to Formula Two". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 9 March 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
14. "Victor Guerin joins F2 grid for Algarve". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 24 April 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
15. Allen, Peter (27 March 2012). "Zanella dreams of Williams test after confirming F2 return". The Checkered Flag (BlackEagleMedia Network). Retrieved 27 March 2012.
16. "Daniel McKenzie switches from Formula Renault 3.5 to F2". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 15 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
17. "Axcil Jefferies makes F2 debut at the Nűrburgring". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 24 May 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
18. "Markus Pommer steps up to F2 in 2012". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 19 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
19. "Harald Schlegelmilch joins F2 grid for season finale". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 21 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
20. "Hector Hurst to make Formula Two debut in 2012". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 7 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
21. "Richard Gonda joins F2 field at Hungaroring". FIA Formula Two Championship (MotorSport Vision). 8 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
22. "Brundle joins Carlin for GP3". Carlin (Capsicum). 3 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
23. "Le Castellet: The Participants". europeanlemansseries.com. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
24. Mercier, Laurent (2012-04-02). "Nogaro: Les équipages affichent complets..." [Nogaro: Crews are complete]. endurance-info.com (in French). Endurance-Info. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
25. "Fan Force United signs Ebrahim". Firestone Indy Lights (IndyCar). January 3, 2012. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
26. Rubino, Jacopo (27 January 2012). "Manor molla la serie britannica e si allea con MP Motorsport" [Manor leaves British series and joins forces with MP Motorsport]. stopandgo.tv (in Italian) (Stop&Go). Retrieved 27 January 2012.
27. "Jon Lancaster joins Ocean for GP2". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 6 March 2012. Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.

External links

• The official website of the FIA Formula Two Championship