24h Le Mans
A look back at the year
Marked by the return of Toyota, 2012 was a year of promise for the future, including the future regulations of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the fusion of the ALMS and Grand-Am.
| 16th January | Morgan rejoined endurance racing with Oak Racing | |
| 18th January | Peugeot announced their withdrawal from endurance racing. Involved since 2007, the French manufacturer managed to beat Audi at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2009. | |
| 19th January | French magazine Auto-Hebdo had the scoop of the year when they published the first pictures of the Toyota TS030 Hybrid LM P1 a few days before the official launch. | |
| 2nd February | The ACO confirmed that the DeltaWing would occupy the 56th pit garage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2012. | |
| 3rd February | Henri Pescarolo made the unexpected announcement of the entry of two cars for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but unfortunately the project did not live up to expectations. | |
| 18th March | Audi scored a 1-2 finish in the opening round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Sebring. | |
| 19th March | Patrick Dempsey annonced that he was planning to return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013. | |
| 5th April | A car emblematic of the late 90's, the Chrysler Viper was announced to be returning to the GT class of the ALMS. | |
| 5th April | New team Sébastien Loeb Racing scored a 2nd place in their first race in ELMS at Le Castellet. | |
| 15th April | First win in ALMS for the Honda ARX-03a at Long Beach. | |
| 5th May | While the new Toyota was still awaited, Audi had a quadruple finish at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps WEC. | |
| 13th May | In the USA, Honda won the last round of the ALMS before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. | |
| 20th May | Louis Rossi won the GP of France Moto 3 raced in the preamble of the Moto GP won by Jorge Lorenzo. | |
| 31st May | Pierre Fillon became the 8th President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. | |
| 2nd June | On the eve of Test Day, Pescarolo Team experienced serious difficulties. | |
| 3rd June | In its first public outing, the Toyota TS030 proved that it was a credible opposition to Audi. | |
| 3rd June | Guillaume Moreau had an accident at test day. The French driver spent the remainder of the year in convalescence. His return is expected in 2014. | |
| 3rd June | The GreenGT H2 was selected to replace the DeltaWing in 2013 in the 56th pit garage. | |
| 14th June | The Automobile Club de l’Ouest revealed the outline regulations for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, which allows considrable technical freedom to engineers. | |
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14th June |
Audi set pole position time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. | |
| 15th June | Mazda announced a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013. | |
| 16th June | The image of the year… the Toyota TS030 of Anthony Davidson flies after collision with a Ferrari. The English driver suffered a back injury but was otherwise unharmed. | |
| 17th June | A after a nail-biting race Tréluyer-Fässler-Lotterer won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second consecutive year. | |
| 28th June | Frédéric Lénart was named as Directeor General of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest | |
| 1st July | Two weeks after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Audi admitted that the hybrid system on the winning car did not work perfectly. | |
| 8th July | Honda won a historic victory at Lime Rock. | |
| 8th July | Le Mans Classic attracted 109,000 spectators to the circuit of the 24 hours. | |
| 15th July | Morgan wins a first victory in endurance racing at the 6 Hours of Donington. | |
| 23rd July | After Donington, Morgan won the LM P2 class of the ALMS at Mosport. | |
| 5th August | New victory for Muscle Milk at Mid-Ohio. | |
| 19th August | Dyson Racing, reigning title holders in ALMS, won their only victory of the season at Road America. | |
| 19th August | The ACO and Super GT agree to accept GT 300 cars in the Asian Le Mans Series. | |
| 26th August | Audi secured the FIA World Endurance Championship Constructors title by winning the 6 Hours of Silverstone. | |
| 31st August | Level 5 Motorsport put their two Honda LM P2 ahead of the LM P1 field at Baltimore. | |
| 9th September | In winning three times consecutively Kawasaki won the trophy of the 24 Heures Moto outright! | |
| 15th September | In only their third race, the Toyota TS030 de-throned the Audi R18 at the 6 Hours of Interlagos. | |
| 16th September | The Muscle Milk team won at the Virginia International Raceway in ALMS. | |
| 26th September | A few days after the announcement of their merger, the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am make plans at Le Mans with Pierre Fillon. | |
| 29th September | Strakka Racing score a podium finish at the 6 Hours of Bahreïn. | |
| 30th September | The first Fête de l’ACO attracted 25,000 spectators who among other things saw the victory of Sarthe-RTKF at the 24 Heures Karting. | |
| 14th October | Toyota won their home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji. | |
| 14th October | 48,500 spectators visited the 24 Heures Camions. | |
| 20th October | A partnership was announced between the European Le Mans Series tand the World Series by Renault for common dates in 2013. | |
| 21st October | Swiss team Rebellion Racing won a resounding victory at Petit Le Mans. | |
| 28th October | Toyota finished a great season by winning the 6 Hours of Shanghai. | |
| 29th October | Lotus prepare a return in LM P2 with the promising T-128. | |
| 14th November | The first thirteen invited participants in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2013 are revealed. | |
| 8th December | At Istanbul in Turkey, the FIA World Endurance Champions are awarded their prizes. |
| DEPARTURES | |
| Gianpiero Moretti, 1944-2012 | |
| Francois Migault, 1944-2012 | |
| Alan Mann, 1936-2012 | |
| Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, 1935-2012 | |
| Carroll Shelby, 1923-2012 | |
| Roy Salvadori, 1922-2012 | |
| Sergio Pininfarina, 1926-2012 | |
| René Mazzia, 1938-2012 | |
| Henri Greder, 1930-2012 | |
| John Fitch - 1917-2012 | |
| Julien HERGAULT | |
