The 2012 American Le Mans Series season was a multi-event auto racing championship for sports racing cars which conform to the technical regulations laid out by the International Motor Sports Association for the American Le Mans Series. It was the fourteenth season of the American Le Mans Series, and the 42nd season overall of the IMSA GT Championship. The season began with the 60th annual 12 Hours of Sebring on March 14 - 17, and covered ten events.[1]
On September 30, 2011, ALMS president Scott Atherton announced an eleven race schedule for 2012. All nine of the events on the 2011 race schedule are carried over, while two new events are planned but not yet announced. Atherton stated three different venues are vying for the two calendar spots. One of the two new events was later removed from the calendar. The calendar will also share the 12 Hours of Sebring with the successor to the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, the FIA World Endurance Championship, while the Petit Le Mans will count as the final round of the European Le Mans Series. It was also announced that four events would be televised live, while the rest would be streamed live on ESPN3 and televised on a tape delay the following day. All tape-delayed events were broadcast on ESPN, and began approximately one hour into the race.
On January 16, the ninth round was announced to take place at Virginia International Raceway on the Full Course layout. It will be both the first visit by ALMS to Virginia, as well as the first competition held on this layout.[2]
| Rnd | Race | Length | Circuit | Location | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring | 12 Hours | Sebring International Raceway | Sebring, Florida | March 17 | |
| 2 | American Le Mans Series at Long Beach | 2 Hours | Long Beach Street Circuit | Long Beach, California | April 14 | |
| 3 | American Le Mans Monterey | 6 Hours | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | May 12 | |
| 4 | American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Lime Rock Park | Lakeville, Connecticut | July 7 | |
| 5 | Grand Prix of Mosport | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Bowmanville, Ontario | July 22 | |
| 6 | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio | August 4 | |
| 7 | Road Race Showcase | 4 Hours | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | August 18 | |
| 8 | Baltimore Sports Car Challenge | 2 Hours | Baltimore street circuit | Baltimore, Maryland | September 1 | |
| 9 | American Le Mans Series VIR 240 | 4 Hours | Virginia International Raceway | Alton, Virginia | September 15 | |
| 10 | 15th Annual Petit Le Mans | 1000miles or 10 Hours | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | October 20 |
Overall winners in bold.
Points were awarded to the top ten cars and drivers which complete at least 70% of their class winner's distance. Teams with multiple entries only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race. Drivers were required to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to earn points, except for the Long Beach event which required only 30 minutes. Drivers are required to complete a particular amount of the minimum number of laps in order to earn points. The number of laps vary depending on the course size.
| Points System[9] | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race Distance | Position | ||||||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | ||
| Less than four hours | 20 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Between four and eight hours | 22 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| More than eight hours | 24 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | |
Teams with full season entries are awarded points in the team championships. Teams which participated in a partial season or on a race-by-race basis are not included in these championships.
As long as they compete full season and comply with ACO regulations, the top P1, P2 and GT team at the end of the season receive an automatic entry to the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Muscle Milk Pickett Racing | HPD ARX-03a | Honda 3.4 L V8 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 13 | 22 | 20 | 195 |
| 2 | Dyson Racing Team | Lola B12/60 | Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 24 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 24 | 190 |
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Level 5 Motorsports | HPD ARX-03b | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | 24 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 203 |
| 2 | Conquest Endurance | Morgan LMP2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 0 | 156 |
| 3 | Dempsey Racing | Lola B12/87 | Judd-BMW HK 3.6 L V8 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 53 | |||||
| 4 | Black Swan Racing | Lola B11/80 | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | 20 | 0 | 20 | ||||||||
All teams utilize the Oreca FLM09 chassis with Chevrolet LS3 engine.
[11]
| Pos | Team | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CORE Autosport | 24 | 20 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 206 |
| 2 | RSR Racing | 8 | 4 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 118 |
| 3 | Merchant Services Racing | 14 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 100 |
| 4 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | 20 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 99 | |
| 5 | Dempsey Racing | 0 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 90 |
| 6 | Muscle Milk Pickett Racing | 12 | 16 | 12 | 40 | |||||||
| 7 | Performance Tech Motorsports | 10 | 5 | 0 | 15 | |||||||
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | 20 | 20 | 22 | 16 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 22 | 20 | 187 |
| 2 | BMW Team RLL | BMW M3 GT2 | BMW 4.0 L V8 | 24 | 16 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 17 | 150 |
| 3 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 24 | 125 |
| 4 | Flying Lizard Motorsports | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 18 | 8 | 18 | 12 | 122 |
| 5 | Team Falken Tire | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 81 |
| 6 | Paul Miller Racing | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 55 |
| 7 | Lotus / Alex Job Racing | Lotus Evora GTE | Cosworth 4.0 L V6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 21 | |
| 8 | SRT Motorsports | SRT Viper GTS-R | SRT 8.0 L V10 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 12 | ||||||
All teams utilize variations of the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.
| Pos | Team | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alex Job Racing | 24 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 14 | 179 |
| 2 | TRG | 14 | 8 | 22 | 6 | 20 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 20 | 138 |
| 3 | Green Hornet Racing | 17 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 122 |
| 4 | JDX Racing | 12 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 108 |
| 5 | GMG Racing | 8 | 10 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 59 | |||||
| 6 | NGT Motorsports | 7 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 55 | ||||||
| 7 | Competition Motorsports | 10 | 6 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 49 | ||||
Note: the #11 JDX Racing car won the Mid-Ohio round but driver Tim Pappas failed to meet the minimum driving time requirement. JDX was allowed to keep their "win" but the first place points and prize money went to the #66 TRG car for that race.
Drivers who participated in races but failed to score points over the course of the season are not listed.
| Bold - Pole position Italics - Fastest lap |
| Pos | Driver | Team | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Christophe Bouchut | Level 5 Motorsports | 24 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 196 |
| Scott Tucker | Level 5 Motorsports | 24 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 196 | |
| 2 |  Martin Plowman | Conquest Endurance | 17 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 0 | 156 |
| David Heinemeier Hansson | Conquest Endurance | 17 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 22 | 13 | 18 | 0 | 156 | |
| 3 | Patrick Dempsey | Dempsey Racing | 12 | 13 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 53 | |||||
| 4 |  Luis Díaz | Level 5 Motorsports | 0 | 13 | 22 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 51 | |||
| 5 | Joe Foster | Dempsey Racing | 0 | 13 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 31 | |||||
| 6 | Ricardo González | Level 5 Motorsports | 13 | 16 | 0 | 29 | |||||||
| 7 | João Barbosa | Level 5 Motorsports | 24 | 24 | |||||||||
| 8 | Tim Pappas | Black Swan Racing | 20 | 0 | 20 | ||||||||
| Jon Fogarty | Black Swan Racing | 20 | 20 | ||||||||||
| Marino Franchitti | Level 5 Motorsports | 20 | 20 | ||||||||||
| Dario Franchitti | Level 5 Motorsports | 20 | 20 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Jonny Cocker | Dempsey Racing | 12 | 12 | |||||||||
Drivers in the PC category are allowed to drive for more than one car during an event. If a driver is in each car for a minimum of two hours each, he is allowed to score the points from whichever car he chooses.
| Pos | Driver | Team | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alex Popow | CORE Autosport | 24 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 24 | 185 |
| 2 | Jon Bennett | CORE Autosport | 17 | 13 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 22 | 14 | 150 |
| Colin Braun | CORE Autosport | 17 | 13 | 22 | 20 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 0 | 22 | 14 | 150 | |
| 3 |  Bruno Junqueira | RSR Racing | 8 | 4 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 118 |
| 4 | Rudy Junco Jr. | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | 20 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 81 | ||||
| 5 | Duncan Ende | Dempsey Racing | 0 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 80 |
| Henri Richard | Dempsey Racing | 0 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 80 | |
| 6 | Tom Kimber-Smith | CORE Autosport | 15 | 16 | 22 | 15 | 68 | ||||||
| 7 | Ryan Dalziel | CORE Autosport | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 24 | 64 | |||||
| 8 | Ken Dobson | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | 20 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 17 | 55 | |||||
| 9 |  Kyle Marcelli | Merchant Services Racing | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 53 |
| 10 | Tomy Drissi | RSR Racing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 48 | |
| 11 | Butch Leitzinger | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | 20 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 44 | ||||||
| 12 | Mike Guasch | Muscle Milk Pickett Racing | 12 | 16 | 12 | 40 | |||||||
| Memo Gidley | Muscle Milk Pickett Racing | 12 | 16 | 12 | 40 | ||||||||
| 13 | Roberto González | RSR Racing | 8 | 18 | 12 | 38 | |||||||
| 14 | Ricardo Vera | Performance Tech Motorsports RSR Racing | 10 | 5 | 20 | 35 | |||||||
| 15 | Antonio Downs | Merchant Services Racing | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 31 | |||||
| 16 | Matt Downs | Merchant Services Racing | 8 | 0 | 10 | 12 | 30 | ||||||
| 17 | E. J. Viso | CORE Autosport | 24 | 24 | |||||||||
| 18 | Pablo Sanchez | Merchant Services Racing | 14 | 8 | 22 | ||||||||
| 19 | Lucas Downs | Merchant Services Racing | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 20 | |||||
| 20 | Marino Franchitti | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 18 | ||||||
| 21 | Elton Julian | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | 17 | 17 | |||||||||
| 22 | Ryan Lewis | Dempsey Racing | 6 | 10 | 16 | ||||||||
| 23 | Chapman Ducote | Merchant Services Racing | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 15 | ||||||
| James French | Merchant Services Racing | 15 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 24 | Anthony Nicolosi | Performance Tech Motorsports | 10 | 5 | 15 | ||||||||
| 25 | Javier Echeverria | Merchant Services Racing | 14 | 14 | |||||||||
| Ricardo González | CORE Autosport | 14 | 14 | ||||||||||
| 26 | Tony Burgess | Merchant Services Racing | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 14 | |||||
| 27 | Archie Hamilton | Muscle Milk Pickett Racing | 12 | 12 | |||||||||
| 28 | Raphael Matos | Performance Tech Motorsports | 10 | 10 | |||||||||
| 29 |  James Kovacic | Merchant Services Racing | 0 | 6 | 6 | ||||||||
| Pos | Driver | Team | SEB | LBH | LGA | LRP | MOS | MOH | RAM | BGP | VIR | PLM | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cooper MacNeil | Alex Job Racing | 20 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 22 | 20 | 22 | 0 | 161 |
| 2 | Leh Keen | Alex Job Racing | 20 | 16 | 20 | 16 | 13 | 20 | 22 | 14 | 141 | ||
| 3 | Spencer Pumpelly | TRG | 14 | 8 | 6 | 20 | 20 | 5 | 13 | 10 | 20 | 116 | |
| 4 | Peter LeSaffre | Green Hornet Racing | 17 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 116 |
| Damien Faulkner | Green Hornet Racing | 17 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 116 | |
| 5 | Chris Cumming | JDX Racing | 12 | 13 | 0 | 10 | 13 | 18 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 108 | |
| 6 | Michael Valiante | JDX Racing | 13 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 15 | 17 | 68 | ||||
| 7 | Bob Faieta | Competition Motorsports Green Hornet Racing | 10 | 6 | 15 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 65 | |||
| 8 | Jeroen Bleekemolen | TRG Alex Job Racing NGT Motorsport | 22 | 0 | 22 | 18 | 62 | ||||||
| 9 | James Sofronas | GMG Racing | 8 | 10 | 18 | 13 | 0 | 49 | |||||
| 10 | Michael Avenatti | Competition Motorsports | 10 | 6 | 15 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 49 | ||||
| 11 | Emilio Di Guida | TRG | 0 | 8 | 0 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 43 | |||
| 12 | Henrique Cisneros | NGT Motorsport | 0 | 18 | 24 | 42 | |||||||
| 13 | Alex Welch | GMG Racing | 8 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 41 | |||||
| 14 |  Dion von Moltke | Alex Job Racing | 24 | 14 | 38 | ||||||||
| 15 | Marc Bunting | TRG | 14 | 13 | 27 | ||||||||
| 16 | Angel Benitez Jr. | NGT Motorsport | 0 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 26 | ||||||
| 17 | Cort Wagner | Competition Motorsports | 10 | 15 | 25 | ||||||||
| 18 | Mario Farnbacher | NGT Motorsport | 24 | 24 | |||||||||
 Kuba Giermaziak | NGT Motorsport | 24 | 24 | ||||||||||
| 19 | Patrick Huisman | Green Hornet Racing | 16 | 8 | 24 | ||||||||
| 20 | Al Carter | TRG | 20 | 20 | |||||||||
| 21 | Nelson Canache Jr. | TRG | 20 | 20 | |||||||||
| 22 | Anthony Lazzaro | Alex Job Racing | 12 | 8 | 20 | ||||||||
| 23 |  Martin Ragginger | JDX Racing | 0 | 18 | 18 | ||||||||
| 24 | Sebastiaan Bleekemolen | Green Hornet Racing | 17 | 0 | 17 | ||||||||
| Sean Johnston | JDX Racing | 17 | 17 | ||||||||||
| 25 | Kévin Estre | JDX Racing | 12 | 12 | |||||||||
| Mark Bullitt | NGT Motorsport | 12 | 12 | ||||||||||
| Jeff Segal | NGT Motorsport | 12 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 26 | Brian Wong | Green Hornet Racing | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||
| 27 | Rene Villeneuve | GMG Racing | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||||||
| 28 | Nicki Thiim | NGT Motorsport | 7 | 7 | |||||||||
| 29 | Mike Piera | TRG | 6 | 6 | |||||||||
| 30 | Angel Benitez Sr. | NGT Motorsport | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |||||||
| 31 | Sean Edwards | NGT Motorsport | 6 | 6 | |||||||||
Roger Wills
