Best Of 2012 : 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.    

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