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GRAND-AM
SPORTS CAR: Top 10 Races Of 2012
SPEED.com looks back at the key races from the domestic and international sports car racing seasons...
The 24 Hours of Le Mans always serves as one of the key moments through every sports car racing season.
10. WEC Silverstone — In only its second race, Toyota took the fight to Audi and nearly pulled off the win. Having led in the early stages of the six-hour race, the No. 7 Toyota of Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kaz Nakajima was forced to make one additional pit stop compared to the more fuel efficient diesel-hybrid from Audi, whose win locked up the Manufacturers’ World Championship.
While it marked the fourth straight win for Audi, it proved to be the turning point of the WEC season, which saw the rise of Toyota as a legitimate contender. The battle in LMP2 was also hard-fought, with Jan Charouz narrowly edging out a hard-charging Starworks HPD of Stephane Sarrazin for ADR-Delta’s first outright class victory of the season.
9. ALMS Baltimore — In what turned into one of the most unpredictable races of the year, Level 5 Motorsports scored a shock 1-2 overall finish with its pair of P2-class HPDs following self-destruction by the P1 class contenders. A number of cautions and incidents made for a stop/start two-hour street fight, with the GT-class winning Team Falken Tire Porsche finishing an amazing fourth overall and on the lead lap as the overall winners Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut.
8. WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans — History was made with Audi becoming the first manufacturer to win Le Mans with a hybrid car. But there was more to the story, as the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler fought with its sister diesel-hybrid until a costly late-race accident by Allan McNish, which sent the No. 2 machine into the garage for repairs. Audi had clear sailing from the six-hour mark following a high-flying accident by Toyota’s Anthony Davidson, who was hit by a GTE-Am Ferrari.
Toyota impressed in its LMP1 debut, with the No. 7 TS030 Hybrid leading following a courageous pass in the grass by Nicolas Lapierre just moments before the No. 8 car’s race-ending acrobatics on the Mulsanne, which sent Davidson to the hospital with a broken back. Also noteworthy, Americans Starworks Motorsport picked up LMP2 honors following a flawless run for its HPD.
7. ALMS Petit Le Mans — Rebellion Racing broke through to take a dominant overall win, although the 1,000-mile enduro will also be remembered for a down-to-the-wire fuel gamble in GT, which saw Extreme Speed Motorsports capture its second ALMS class victory, and the remarkable fifth place overall finish for the Nissan DeltaWing, in its North American race debut. It came just three days following a heavy accident that tipped the experimental race car on its side and put initial question if the car could even be rebuilt for the race.
6. ALMS Mosport — The final moments in GT produced a heated three-way battle for the win, with a last-lap pass by Johannes van Overbeek over the No. 3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen ultimately giving Extreme Speed Motorsports its first-ever ALMS class victory. The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister had crossed the line in first but was later excluded for his 911 GT3 RSR flunking the post-race stall test.
While the door-to-door fight in GT took center stage, there was also some paint rubbing in P2, which saw Conquest Endurance’s Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson score a breakthrough first win. It came following DHH's thrilling duel with the No. 055 Level 5 HPD of Scott Tucker, who set the race’s fastest lap in class. Tucker, however, lost out on the win due to co-driver Christophe Bouchut being handed a penalty for improper overtaking late in the running.
While it marked the fourth straight win for Audi, it proved to be the turning point of the WEC season, which saw the rise of Toyota as a legitimate contender. The battle in LMP2 was also hard-fought, with Jan Charouz narrowly edging out a hard-charging Starworks HPD of Stephane Sarrazin for ADR-Delta’s first outright class victory of the season.
9. ALMS Baltimore — In what turned into one of the most unpredictable races of the year, Level 5 Motorsports scored a shock 1-2 overall finish with its pair of P2-class HPDs following self-destruction by the P1 class contenders. A number of cautions and incidents made for a stop/start two-hour street fight, with the GT-class winning Team Falken Tire Porsche finishing an amazing fourth overall and on the lead lap as the overall winners Scott Tucker and Christophe Bouchut.
8. WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans — History was made with Audi becoming the first manufacturer to win Le Mans with a hybrid car. But there was more to the story, as the No. 1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler fought with its sister diesel-hybrid until a costly late-race accident by Allan McNish, which sent the No. 2 machine into the garage for repairs. Audi had clear sailing from the six-hour mark following a high-flying accident by Toyota’s Anthony Davidson, who was hit by a GTE-Am Ferrari.
Toyota impressed in its LMP1 debut, with the No. 7 TS030 Hybrid leading following a courageous pass in the grass by Nicolas Lapierre just moments before the No. 8 car’s race-ending acrobatics on the Mulsanne, which sent Davidson to the hospital with a broken back. Also noteworthy, Americans Starworks Motorsport picked up LMP2 honors following a flawless run for its HPD.
7. ALMS Petit Le Mans — Rebellion Racing broke through to take a dominant overall win, although the 1,000-mile enduro will also be remembered for a down-to-the-wire fuel gamble in GT, which saw Extreme Speed Motorsports capture its second ALMS class victory, and the remarkable fifth place overall finish for the Nissan DeltaWing, in its North American race debut. It came just three days following a heavy accident that tipped the experimental race car on its side and put initial question if the car could even be rebuilt for the race.
6. ALMS Mosport — The final moments in GT produced a heated three-way battle for the win, with a last-lap pass by Johannes van Overbeek over the No. 3 Corvette of Jan Magnussen ultimately giving Extreme Speed Motorsports its first-ever ALMS class victory. The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister had crossed the line in first but was later excluded for his 911 GT3 RSR flunking the post-race stall test.
While the door-to-door fight in GT took center stage, there was also some paint rubbing in P2, which saw Conquest Endurance’s Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson score a breakthrough first win. It came following DHH's thrilling duel with the No. 055 Level 5 HPD of Scott Tucker, who set the race’s fastest lap in class. Tucker, however, lost out on the win due to co-driver Christophe Bouchut being handed a penalty for improper overtaking late in the running.
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