The2012 European Le Mans Series was the ninth season of theAutomobile Club de l'Ouest'sEuropean Le Mans Series (previously known as simplyLe Mans Series). Championship titles were awarded in five categories, with the Le Mans Series shifting its categories following its separation from theFIA World Endurance Championship. LMP1 cars were dropped due to most teams entering theFIA World Endurance Championship while a new GTC category was created to allowsingle makegrand tourer cars and FIA GT3s to compete in endurance races. However, there were no GTC cars that competed during the season.

Due to the numerous issues the season was reduced to just three rounds, starting inLe Castellet,France on 1 April and ended atBraselton, Georgia,United States, on 20 October.

Following the ELMS decision to no longer share races with theFIA World Endurance Championship (formerly theIntercontinental Le Mans Cup), the series required new races to replace theSpa-Francorchamps andSilverstone races which now were part of the WEC.Circuit Paul Ricard was the only event carried over from 2011 and remained the season opener.^[1]Circuit Zolder was supposed to serve as the second round of the series, but on 1 April the race was cancelled due to a lack of entrants. ELMS teams were instead invited to enter the 6 Hours of Spa WEC round.^[2] Following a small number of entries at Donington, the season's two later rounds at theBrno Circuit andAutódromo Internacional do Algarve were cancelled. In place of these two rounds, an agreement was reached with theAmerican Le Mans Series to allow ELMS competitors to participate in thePetit Le Mans for double points, with the ELMS providing transport assistance to full-season teams.^[3]

Rnd	Race	Circuit	Date
–	Official Test Session	Circuit Paul Ricard,Le Castellet,France	9–10 March
1	6 Hours of Castellet	Circuit Paul Ricard,Le Castellet,France	1 April
2	6 Hours of Donington	Donington Park,Castle Donington,United Kingdom	15 July
3	Petit Le Mans	Road Atlanta,Braselton, Georgia	20 October
Sources:[4][5]

The Le Mans Series made changes to its class structure for the 2012 season, eliminating one previous class while adding another. The LMP1Le Mans Prototype category were no longer featured in LMS races due to the large amount of LMP1 factory teams which switched from the Le Mans Series to the World Endurance Championship. This move promotes the LMP2 category to the top of the class structure. To replace LMP1, a new class has been created at the bottom of the class structure, named GTC. This class allowed only three cars from variousone make series to compete: TheFerrari 458 Challenge,Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, and theLotus Evora GT4. Teams in GTC were not allowed more than one professional driver in their line-up.^[6] Finally, the Formula Le Mans category was renamedLMP Challenge, aligning with the title utilized by theAmerican Le Mans Series.^[7]

Entry List[8][9]
Entrant/Team	Car	Engine	Tyre	No	Drivers	Rounds
LMP2
Greaves Motorsport	Zytek Z11SN	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	1	Alex Brundle	All
					Tom Kimber-Smith
					Lucas Ordóñez	1–2
					Alex Buncombe	3
Pecom Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	10	Luís Pérez Companc	1–2
					Pierre Kaffer	1–2
					Gianmaria Bruni	1
					Soheil Ayari[10]	2
Race Performance	Oreca 03	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	D	11	Jonathan Hirschi	1
					Michel Frey	1
					Ralph Meichtry[11]	1
Status GP	Lola B12/80	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	D	17	Alexander Sims[12]	1–2
					Yelmer Buurman[12]	1
					Dean Stirling[12]	1
					Julien Jousse[10]	2
					Maxime Jousse[10]	2
Murphy Prototypes	MG-Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	18	Jody Firth	All
					Warren Hughes
					Luca Moro[11]	1
					Brendon Hartley[10]	2–3
Sébastien Loeb Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	19	Nicolas Marroc	1–2
					Nicolas Minassian	1–2
					Stéphane Sarrazin[11]	1–2
OAK Racing	Morgan LMP2	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	D	24	Jacques Nicolet	1–2
					Guillaume Moreau[11]	1
					Dominik Kraihamer[11]	1
					Matthieu Lahaye[10]	2
		Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8		35	Bertrand Baguette[10]	2–3
					Dimitri Enjalbert[10]	2
					Olivier Pla[10]	2–3
					Jacques Nicolet	3
Jota	Zytek Z11SN	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	38	Sam Hancock	1–2
					Simon Dolan	1–2
Extrême Limite ARIC	Norma M200P	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	D	44	Fabien Rosier	1
					Philippe Thirion[11]	1
Boutsen Ginion Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	45	Bastien Brière	1
					Jack Clarke[11]	1
					Sébastien Buemi	1
Thiriet byTDS Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	D	46	Mathias Beche	All
					Pierre Thiriet
					Christophe Tinseau	3
LMPC
Boutsen Ginion Racing[11]	Oreca FLM09	ChevroletLS3 6.2 L V8	M	40	Thomas Dagoneau[11]	1–2
					Massimo Vignali[11]	1
					Jean-Marc Merlin[11]	1
					Jean-Charles Battut[10]	2
					John Hartshorne[10]	2
CURTIS Racing Technologies	Oreca FLM09	ChevroletLS3 6.2 L V8	M	42	Phil Keen	1
					John Hartshorne	1
					Alex Kapadia[13]	1
LM GTE Pro
Kessel Racing[11]	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	D	61	Michał Broniszewski[11]	1
					Philipp Peter[11]	1
JMW Motorsport	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	D	66	James Walker	1
					Jonny Cocker[11]	1–2
					Allan Simonsen	2
JMB Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	M	83	Jaime Melo	1
					Marco Frezza	1
LM GTE Am
AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	M	60	Piergiuseppe Perazzini	All
					Marco Cioci
					Matt Griffin[11]
IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	PorscheM97/74 4.0 L Flat-6	M	67	Anthony Pons	All
					Nicolas Armindo
					Raymond Narac
Gulf Racing	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	Aston MartinAJ37 4.5 L V8	D	69	Stuart Hall[11]	1
					Roald Goethe[11]	1
Prospeed Competition	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	PorscheM97/74 4.0 L Flat-6	M	75	Marc Goossens[11]	1
					Maxime Soulet[11]	1
JMB Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	M	99	Alain Ferté	1
					Philippe Illiano	1

Rnd.	Circuit	LMP2 Winning Team	LMPC Winning Team	GTE Pro Winning Team	GTE Am Winning Team	Results
		LMP2 Winning Drivers	LMPC Winning Drivers	GTE Pro Winning Drivers	GTE Am Winning Drivers
1	Paul Ricard	No. 46 Thiriet byTDS Racing	No. 42 CURTIS Racing Technologies	No. 66 JMW Motorsport	No. 75Prospeed Competition	Results
		Mathias Beche Pierre Thiriet	John Hartshorne Alex Kapadia Phil Keen	James Walker Jonny Cocker	Marc Goossens Maxime Soulet
2	Donington	No. 35OAK Racing	No. 40Boutsen Ginion Racing	No. 66 JMW Motorsport	No. 67IMSA Performance Matmut	Results
		Olivier Pla Dimitri Enjalbert Bertrand Baguette	Thomas Dagoneau Jean-Charles Battut John Hartshorne	Jonny Cocker Allan Simonsen	Nicolas Armindo Raymond Narac Anthony Pons
3	Road Atlanta	No. 46 Thiriet byTDS Racing	Did Not Participate	Did Not Participate	No. 67IMSA Performance Matmut	Results
		Mathias Beche Pierre Thiriet Christophe Tinseau			Nicolas Armindo Raymond Narac Anthony Pons
Source:[14]

Points are awarded to cars that finish in tenth place or higher, with unclassified entries failing to complete 70% of the race distance or entries failing to reach the finish not earning championship points. One bonus point is awarded for winningpole position (denoted bybold). Double points will be awarded at Petit Le Mans.^[3]

The top two finishers in theLMP2,GTE Pro, and GTE Am championships earned automatic entry to the2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[15]

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	Thiriet byTDS Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	1	2	3	94
2	OAK Racing	Morgan LMP2	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	6	1	4	71
3	Greaves Motorsport	Zytek Z11SN	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	4	7	5	48
4	Sébastien Loeb Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	2	4		30
5	Pecom Racing	Oreca 03	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	7	5		16
6	Status GP	Lola B12/80	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	3	Ret		15
7	Murphy Prototypes	MG-Oreca 03	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	Ret	3	Ret	15
8	Race Performance	Oreca 03	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	5			10
9	Extrême Limite ARIC	Norma M200P	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	8			4
10	JOTA	Zytek Z11SN	Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8	9	Ret		2
–	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Oreca 03	Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8	Ret			0
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Oreca FLM09	ChevroletLS3 6.2 L V8	Ret	1		27
2	Curtis Racing Technologies	Oreca FLM09	ChevroletLS3 6.2 L V8	1			25
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	JMW Motorsport	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	1	1		51
2	JMB Racing	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	2			19
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	IMSA Performance Matmut	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	PorscheM97/74 4.0 L Flat-6	2	1	1	94
2	AF Corse	Ferrari 458 Italia GT2	FerrariF136 4.5 L V8	3	2	Ret	34
3	Prospeed Competition	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	PorscheM97/74 4.0 L Flat-6	1			26
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Driver	Team	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1=	Pierre Thiriet	Thiriet byTDS Racing	1	2	3	94
1=	Mathias Beche	Thiriet byTDS Racing	1	2	3	94
2=	Bertrand Baguette	OAK Racing		1	4	62
2=	Olivier Pla	OAK Racing		1	4	62
3	Jacques Nicolet	OAK Racing	6	6	4	54
4	Christophe Tinseau	Thiriet byTDS Racing			3	50
5=	Alex Brundle	Greaves Motorsport	4	7	5	48
5=	Tom Kimber-Smith	Greaves Motorsport	4	7	5	48
6=	Nicolas Marroc	Sébastien Loeb Racing	2	4		30
6=	Stéphane Sarrazin	Sébastien Loeb Racing	2	4		30
6=	Nicolas Minassian	Sébastien Loeb Racing	2	4		30
7	Dimitri Enjalbert	OAK Racing		1		25
8	Lucas Ordoñez	Greaves Motorsport	4	7		18
9=	Luís Pérez Companc	Pecom Racing	7	5		16
9=	Pierre Kaffer	Pecom Racing	7	5		16
10=	Alexander Sims	Status GP	3	Ret		15
10=	Dean Sterling	Status GP	3			15
10=	Yelmer Buurman	Status GP	3			15
10=	Jody Firth	Murphy Prototypes	Ret	3	Ret	15
10=	Warren Hughes	Murphy Prototypes	Ret	3	Ret	15
10=	Brendon Hartley	Murphy Prototypes		3	Ret	15
11=	Michel Frey	Race Performance	5			10
11=	Jonathan Hirschi	Race Performance	5			10
11=	Ralph Meichtry	Race Performance	5			10
11=	Soheil Ayari	Pecom Racing		5		10
12	Matthieu Lahaye	OAK Racing		6		9
13=	Guillaume Moreau	OAK Racing	6			8
13=	Dominik Kraihamer	OAK Racing	6			8
14	Gianmaria Bruni	Pecom Racing	7			6
15=	Fabien Rosier	Extrême Limite ARIC	8			4
15=	Philippe Thirion	Extrême Limite ARIC	8			4
16=	Sam Hancock	JOTA	9	Ret		2
16=	Simon Dolan	JOTA	9	Ret		2
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Driver	Team	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	John Hartshorne	Curtis Racing Technologies Boutsen Ginion Racing	1	1		51
2	Thomas Dagoneau	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Ret	1		27
3	Jean-Charles Battut	Boutsen Ginion Racing		1		26
4=	Alex Kapadia	Curtis Racing Technologies	1			25
4=	Phil Keen	Curtis Racing Technologies	1			25
5=	Jean-Marc Merlin	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Ret			1
5=	Massimo Vignali	Boutsen Ginion Racing	Ret			1
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Driver	Team	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	Jonny Cocker	JMW Motorsport	1	1		51
2	James Walker	JMW Motorsport	1	WD		26
3	Allan Simonsen	JMW Motorsport		1		25
4=	Jaime Melo	JMB Racing	2			19
4=	Marco Frezza	JMB Racing	2			19
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Driver	Team	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1=	Anthony Pons	IMSA Performance Matmut	2	1	1	94
1=	Nicolas Armindo	IMSA Performance Matmut	2	1	1	94
1=	Raymond Narac	IMSA Performance Matmut	2	1	1	94
2=	Piergiuseppe Perazzini	AF Corse	3	2	Ret	34
2=	Marco Cioci	AF Corse	3	2	Ret	34
2=	Matt Griffin	AF Corse	3	2	Ret	34
3=	Marc Goossens	Prospeed Competition	1			26
3=	Maxime Soulet	Prospeed Competition	1			26
Sources:[16][17]

Pos	Constructor	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	Oreca-Nissan	44	33	50	127
2	Morgan-Nissan		25	37	62
3	Zytek-Nissan	14	6	30	50
4	Morgan-Judd	8	9		17
5	Lola-Judd	15	0		15
6	Oreca-Judd	10			10
7	Norma-Judd	4			4
Source:[18]

Pos	Constructor	LEC	DON	ATL	Total
1	Porsche	27	18	51	96
2	Ferrari	44	41	0	85
–	Aston Martin	0			0
Source:[18]

• European Le Mans Series

• 2012 European Le Mans Series season
• 2012 in motorsport
• 2012 in European sport
• European Le Mans Series seasons

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)