2012 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
The 2012 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was a six-hour automobile endurance race for two or three driver teams in Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE) cars held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium on 5 May 2012 before 31,000 people.
The trio led the race until they were passed by a non-hybrid Audi R18 ultra shared by Romain Dumas, Loïc Duval and Marc Gené, which they maintained for the final 96 laps to win outright and move Dumas and Duval to the lead of the World Endurance Drivers' Championship and keep Audi atop the LMP1 Manufacturers' World Championship.
The LMP2 category was won by Jota's Zytek Z11SN-Nissan car of Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock, who took the lead in the final three laps from the ADR-Delta team of Tor Graves, Robbie Kerr and John Martin, who made a late race pit stop for fuel and finished 6.378 seconds behind the Jota entry to take the lead of the Endurance Trophy For LMP2 Teams.
Porsche won the LMGTE Pro category with a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR shared by Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz, holding off a late race challenge from an AF Corse-fielded Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 of Gianmaria Bruni and Giancarlo Fisichella by 0.628 seconds to tie AF Corse on points in the Endurance Trophy For LMGTE Pro Teams.
[19][20] Alexander Sims' Status GP Lola-Judd and Stéphane Sarrazin's Starworks HPD cars were second and third in class.
21 Strakka HPD car's brakes on oil through the La Source hairpin and crashed into the tyre barrier leaving the turn.
[21][22] Sims collided into the barriers in Radillion corner, on a hill above Eau Rouge turn, to stop practice with 20 minutes remaining.
[21][23] During a simulated driver change, Gulf Racing Middle East owner Frédéric Fatien got his foot snagged on a wheel behind him, fell, and broken his lower leg in three places.
[25][28] When Rob Kauffman locked up at Les Combes corner and lost control of his AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari, he hit the rear of Pons (who had passed him on the Kemmel straight) and rear-ended the barrier.
[25][26] Starworks ended practice early because driver Enzo Potolicchio lost control of the HPD LMP2 car and failed to restart.
[32][34] John Martin drove the ADR-Delta Oreca Judd car to pole position for the first time in LMP2 with a lap of 2:09.302 after his team removed aerodynamics to allow him to go faster on the straights.
[31][32] Ferrari dominated the LMGTE Pro category, with two of their three entries leading the class in a tightly contested duel involving all five cars.
[38][41] Brian Vickers lost control of the AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari while braking on the wet track, damaging the car's rear-right corner on the barrier backwards at the Bus Stop chicane.
[42] Conditions improved but the track remained wet and the air was cool under gloomy weather following the morning rain shower, which tapered off 30 minutes before the race start.
81 AF Corse Ferrari gained the LMGTE Am lead from Armindo's IMSA Porsche on the first lap but lost it to the latter on the second.
97 Aston Martin into the garage with a gear selection issue, forcing the car to retire because WEC regulations prohibited mid-race gearbox changes.
During the pit stops for fuel and tyres, mechanics replaced Kristensen's bonnet to repair a malfunctioning left-front headlight caused by a wiring problem.
[58][63] McNish ran wide into the gravel trap at Stavelot corner due to a tyre he disliked, but he rejoined the track without causing significant damage to the No.
[64][66][67] After the safety cars were recalled, Hancock's LMP2-leading Jota Zytek was given a 30-second stop-and-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane and lost the category lead to Tor Graves' ADR-Delta Oreca entry.
2 car, as Hughes endured two slow laps trying to conserve fuel, which prevented him from generating tyre temperature in the Murphy Oreca.
The top four LMP2 cars were separated by 55 seconds, with Hancock gaining on class leader Graves and Hughes closing in on third-placed Leinders.
[55][70] Robbie Kerr was faster than Hughes' Murphy Oreca and drove the ADR-Delta car into second in LMP2 as Hancock reclaimed the class lead.
[72] Fässler drove wide in Les Combes corner, struck a kerb, and a puncture necessitated an unscheuled pit stop for a new set of tyres as a precaution, although the No.
[53] Jota won their first international LMP2 race, with Dolan claiming his first global victory and Hancock his first since the 2004 Le Mans Endurance Series.
[71][73] Murphy Prototypes completed the class podium through Hughes and Hartley's consistent pace, becoming the first Irish team to do so since Tony Brennan at the 1976 6 Hours of Silverstone.
51 AF Corse Ferrari (whose improved fuel mileage allowed it to make one less pit stop in their four-stop plan) in the final hour to win LMGTE Pro by 0.628 seconds.
[53][73] The German manufacturer also won in LMGTE Am, with the IMSA Performance Matmut team leading all but four laps and finishing 58.781 seconds clear of Felbermayr-Proton's No.
[57] Bonanomi termed it a "great race" and Jarvis said his team's main goal was to avoid mistakes and cover as much distance as possible.
[53] Dolan commented on his LMP2 victory: To win a World Championship race is a dream come true, Spa has always been a good track for us, really.
[78] The final result put Dumas and Duval two points ahead of Capello, Kristensen, and McNish in the World Endurance Drivers' Championship.
