The2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series was the eighth season of theRenault –supportedsingle–seater category .
It was the first season for the newDallara T12 chassis, which featured a new, 530 bhp (400 kW)V8 engine supplied byBritish firmZytek Motorsport .[ 1] The car also featured a newgearbox developed byRicardo and aDrag Reduction System similar to the one first used in the2011 Formula One season .[ 1] The series' organising committee has also announced that the series' sporting regulations were set to remain unchanged.[ 2]
Robin Frijns won the championship in his first season of competition, becoming the first driver sinceRobert Kubica in2005 to win the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in his debut year.Tech 1 Racing won the teams' championship for the fourth time.[ 3]
On 10 October 2011, it was announced that 18 teams had applied to compete in the 2012 season.[ 4] Twelve of the thirteen teams that competed in2011 submitted entries, whileMofaz Racing withdrew after failing to acquire the requisite funds to continue in the series.[ 5] Several new teams, includingArden International ,Atech Reid GP ,DAMS ,Koiranen Motorsport ,Max Travin Racing Team – however prior the start of the season, Max Travin Racing Team joined forces withBVM Target as part of a three-year partnership[ 6] – andVan Amersfoort Racing all submitted entries to join the series.[ 4] The final list of thirteen teams was published on 17 October 2011, withGP2 Series teams Arden International and DAMS selected to join, whileEPIC Racing and Koiranen Motorsport were placed on a reserve list.[ 7]
Changed teams Entering/Re–Entering FR3.5 2010 championMikhail Aleshin , who competed in theGP2 Series andGerman Formula Three in 2011, returned to the series full-time withTeam RFR ,[ 27] after a one-off appearance at theHungaroring in2011 , replacingAnton Nebylitskiy . Nebylitskiy partners Aleshin at Team RFR in 2012.Zoël Amberg , who competed in the2011 GP3 Series season withATECH CRS GP , moved to Formula Renault 3.5, joiningPons Racing .[ 30] Jules Bianchi , who finished third in the GP2 Series in both2010 and 2011, joined Tech 1 Racing.[ 15] He also competed in theMonaco round of the series in2009 forSG Formula .Sam Bird , who was sixth in GP2 in 2011, also joined the series with ISR.[ 12] Yann Cunha , who participated in bothBritish Formula 3 and theEuropean F3 Open championships in 2011, joined Amberg at Pons Racing.[ 29] Lucas Foresti , who graduated from the British Formula 3 Championship, joined Arthur Pic at DAMS.[ 37] Colombian driverCarlos Huertas , who placed third in the British Formula 3 championship and fifth in theMacau Grand Prix , will move into the series, driving forFortec Motorsport .[ 10] Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championRobin Frijns became his teammate.[ 11] British Formula 3 runner-upKevin Magnussen continued his collaboration withCarlin Motorsport for another season, joining the team's Formula Renault 3.5 outfit.[ 8] He was joined in the team byWill Stevens , who placed fourth in theFormula Renault Eurocup in 2011.[ 9] Nikolay Martsenko , who finished twelfth inGerman Formula Three in 2011, moved into the series withBVM Target .[ 26] Lotus signed German Formula Three championRichie Stanaway and runner-upMarco Sørensen to drive their cars in 2012.[ 17] Auto GP race-winnerGiovanni Venturini joined Martsenko at BVM Target.[ 21] GP3 Series race-winnerLewis Williamson moved into the series full-time, after replacingDaniel Ricciardo atISR for two meetings in 2011. He joined Formula Renault 3.5 debutants Arden Caterham.[ 35] Fellow GP3 race-winnerNico Müller joined the series withInternational Draco Racing .[ 31] GP3 racerNick Yelloly , who competed in three meetings forPons Racing in 2011, moved into the series full-time withComtec Racing .[ 33] He will be joined by fellow GP3 driverVittorio Ghirelli .[ 32] Leaving FR3.5 Nathanaël Berthon , who raced for ISR in 2011, stepped up toGP2 withRacing Engineering , having previously contested the2011 GP2 Asia Series season andGP2 Final with the team.[ 39] Albert Costa , who finished fourth in 2011 withEPIC Racing , will move to theEurocup Mégane Trophy with defending champions Oregon Team.[ 40] Daniël de Jong , who finished 29th for Comtec Racing, joined theAuto GP World Series full-time withManor MP Motorsport, having contested three meetings for the team during the2011 season .[ 41] Daniel McKenzie , who raced for Comtec Racing in 2011, will move toFormula Two for2012 .[ 42] Sten Pentus , who finished 24th in 2011 withEPIC Racing , will move to theAuto GP World Series with the Virtuosi UK team.[ 43] After finishing in fifth place in the series, alongside a half season inFormula One ,Daniel Ricciardo switched to Formula One full-time, joiningScuderia Toro Rosso .[ 44] Stéphane Richelmi , who finished 26th in the 2011 season for Draco Racing, will graduate to the GP2 Series withTrident Racing .[ 45] Filip Salaquarda , who entered at Monza withPons Racing in 2011, will switch to theFIA GT1 World Championship , joiningAF Corse .[ 46] Adrien Tambay , who competed forPons Racing andDraco Racing in 2011, will join theDTM , driving forAbt Sportsline .[ 47] Mofaz Racing driverChris van der Drift left the championship to compete in the Auto GP World Series.[ 48] 2011 series runner-upJean-Éric Vergne moved intoFormula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso.[ 49] Oliver Webb , who drove for Pons Racing in 2011, will move to theIndy Lights series full-time withSam Schmidt Motorsports , having contested four races withJensen MotorSport in2011 .[ 50] 2011 championRobert Wickens switched to the DTM, joining the juniorMercedes scheme, earning a place atMücke Motorsport .[ 51] BVM Target driverDaniel Zampieri switched to sportscar racing, joining theInternational GT Open andBlancpain Endurance Series with theKessel Racing team.[ 52] Mid-season changes Race calendar and results [ edit ] In August 2011, series organisers had announced that the championship was due to visitRussia andBrazil during the 2012 season.[ 2] The 2012 calendar was announced on 10 October 2011, the day after the end of the 2011 season.[ 54] Russia was included, but Brazil omitted. Seven of the nine rounds will form meetings of the2012 World Series by Renault season , with additional rounds in support of theMonaco Grand Prix and the6 Hours of Silverstone .[ 55]
Championship standings [ edit ] Points system Points are awarded to the top 10 classified finishers.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
Drivers' Championship[ edit ] Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (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 practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)
Bold – PoleItalics – Fastest Lap † – Retired, but classified
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Retrieved10 March 2012 .^a b Costa, Massimo (11 July 2012)."Sirotkin e BVM Target assieme nell'inedito appuntamento di Mosca" [Sirotkin and BVM Target together in the meeting of Moscow].ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. Archived fromthe original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved12 July 2012 . ^a b "Zampieri a Silverstone con BVM Target" [Zampieri in Silverstone for BVM Target].ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 19 August 2012. Archived fromthe original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved20 August 2012 .^ "Pal Kiss debutta con BVM Target a Budapest" [Pal Kiss debuts with BVM Target in Budapest].ItaliaRacing.net (in Italian). Inpagina. 6 September 2012. Archived fromthe original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved6 September 2012 .^ "За BVM Target на предстоящем этапе выступит Давиде Ригон" [Davide Rigon to participate the next round for BVM Target] (in Russian). F1News.ru. 26 September 2012. Retrieved26 September 2012 .^a b "Формула-Рено 3.5" в Москве: в чемпионате примет участие еще один российский пилот [Formula Renault 3.5 in Moscow: Another Russian driver will take part in the championship].Sport Express (in Russian).European Sports Media . 6 March 2012. Retrieved7 March 2012 .^a b c d "За новую команду RFR выступят Алешин и Небылицкий" [Aleshin and Nebylitskiy to compete for new team RFR].F1News.ru (in Russian). Racing News Agency, Ltd. 20 February 2012. Retrieved20 February 2012 .^ Taillade, Jean-Luc (11 September 2012)."FR 3.5 – Aaro Vainio au Hungaroring avec RFR" (in French). autohebdo.fr. Archived fromthe original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved11 September 2012 . ^a b Mills, Peter (15 December 2011)."Yann Cunha to drive for Pons Racing in 2012 and 2013" .Autosport .Haymarket Publications . Retrieved16 December 2011 . ^a b Weeks, James (8 December 2011)."Amberg joins Pons for 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 campaign" .motorstv.com .Motors TV . 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World Series by Nissan World Series Lights Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault 3.5 Series World Series Formula V8 3.5