The 2012 Auto GP World Series was the third year of the Auto GP series, and the fourteenth season of the former Euroseries 3000. The championship began on 11 March at Monza in Italy and finished on 23 September at Sonoma in the United States, after seven double-header rounds.

Each meeting's sprint race now lasts for a longer duration – a minimum of , up from  – while also introducing a mandatory pit-stop to the race. The series also introduced an overboost system that has already been used in the FIA Formula Two Championship. The points system for the second race was also amended.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs won the opening race of the season at Monza after qualifying on pole position by 0.04 seconds. Pål Varhaug finished in second place and returnee Daniël de Jong attained his maiden podium in third. The reverse-grid second race was won by Varhaug, who left the meeting tied for the championship lead with Quaife-Hobbs. Three weeks later at Valencia, Quaife-Hobbs claimed pole again, but was unable to convert pole into another win, losing to Sergey Sirotkin, who became the youngest Auto GP winner, while Varhaug completed the podium. Quaife-Hobbs and Sirotkin continued their battle into the sprint race until an error during Sirotkin's pit-stop ended the battle early. Sirotkin recovered to finish the race in third place behind Quaife-Hobbs – who extended his championship lead with the race win – and Facu Regalia, who scored his first podium.

Two weeks later, the series' first non-European round was held in Morocco, where Sirotkin claimed his first pole position. He made a poor getaway, after being distracted by a marshal at the start. he lost many positions with Varhaug taking the lead. Varhaug was chased by Italian Formula Three champion Sergio Campana, leading until the pit-stop phase. Varhaug stalled in pit lane, losing positions to both Campana and Quaife-Hobbs, with Campana eventually taking his first series win, and the first for Team MLR71, after a close battle with Quaife-Hobbs. Sirotkin took the lead at the start of the second race, but lost time after his pit-stop, allowing Manor MP Motorsport's Chris van der Drift through to take his first win in the series ahead of Sirotkin. Varhaug, Quaife-Hobbs and Giacomo Ricci battled over the final podium position with Varhaug taking the position on-the-road before receiving a 25-second time penalty post-race for cutting a chicane. Ricci was promoted into third place ahead of Quaife-Hobbs, while Varhaug dropped to seventh and lost ground in the championship, falling behind Sirotkin, who moved into second.

All teams competed with the Lola B05/52-Zytek chassis/engine combination, with Kumho tires.

Teams and drivers Team Driver Rounds Campos Racing 1 Facu Regalia 1–5 Pippa Mann 7 2 Giuseppe Cipriani All 3 Max Snegirev All Team MLR71 5 Sergio Campana 1–5 Giacomo Ricci 7 71 Michele La Rosa All Virtuosi UK 6 Matteo Beretta 1 Sten Pentus 2 Francesco Dracone 3–7 7 Pål Varhaug All Zele Racing 8 Giacomo Ricci 1, 3 Matteo Beretta 2 Sten Pentus 4–5 Sergio Campana 7 9 Peter Milavec 2 Juan Carlos Sistos 5 Antônio Pizzonia 7 Super Nova International 10 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs All 11 Victor Guerin 1–5 Euronova Racing 12 Sergey Sirotkin All 14 Antonio Spavone 1–5 Sergio Campana 6 Kotaro Sakurai 7 Ombra Racing 23 Adderly Fong 1, 4 Yann Cunha 2–3 Antônio Pizzonia 6 Antonio Spavone 7 45 Giancarlo Serenelli 1–5, 7 Rafael Suzuki 6 Manor MP Motorsport 32 Daniël de Jong All 33 Chris van der Drift 1–6

Race calendar and results A seven-round calendar was published on 23 December 2011, with all rounds supporting World Touring Car Championship events. On 9 March 2012, it was announced that the Portuguese round moved from Estoril to Portimão.

Round Circuit/Location Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Supporting 1 R1 Monza Circuit 10 March Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Sergey Sirotkin Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Super Nova International FIA WTCC Race of Italy R2 11 March Sergey Sirotkin Pål Varhaug Virtuosi UK 2 R1 Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Cheste 31 March Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Sergey Sirotkin Sergey Sirotkin Euronova Racing FIA WTCC Race of Spain R2 1 April Sergey Sirotkin Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Super Nova International 3 R1 Marrakech Street Circuit 14 April Sergey Sirotkin Sergio Campana Sergio Campana Team MLR71 FIA WTCC Race of Morocco R2 15 April Sergey Sirotkin Chris van der Drift Manor MP Motorsport 4 R1 Hungaroring 5 May Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Super Nova International FIA WTCC Race of Hungary R2 6 May Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Pål Varhaug Virtuosi UK 5 R1 Autódromo Internacional do Algarve 2 June Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Super Nova International FIA WTCC Race of Portugal R2 3 June Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Super Nova International 6 R1 Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba 21 July Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Daniël de Jong Antônio Pizzonia Ombra Racing FIA WTCC Race of Brazil R2 22 July Pål Varhaug Antônio Pizzonia Ombra Racing 7 R1 Sonoma Raceway 22 September Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Daniël de Jong Pål Varhaug Virtuosi UK FIA WTCC Race of the United States R2 23 September Daniël de Jong Sergey Sirotkin Euronova Racing

Championship standings Points for both championships were awarded as follows: Race Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th  Race One 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 Race Two 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

In addition: One point will be awarded for Pole position for Race One. One point will be awarded for fastest lap in each race.

Drivers' Championship Pos Driver MNZ VAL MAR HUN ALG CUR SON Points 1 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 6 12† Ret 2 221 2 Pål Varhaug 2 1 3 8 3 7 5 1 2 Ret 2 5 1 5 183 3 Sergey Sirotkin 14 4 1 3 6 2 13† 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 175 4 Chris van der Drift 5 2 6 7 4 1 7 5 8 2 5 2 127 5 Daniël de Jong 3 Ret 4 4 7 Ret 11 12 7 7 4 3 2 6 104 6 Sergio Campana 10 13 5 9 1 13 Ret 7 5 4 11† 8 4 3 90 7 Facu Regalia 4 9 7 2 Ret 10 3 10 6 5 68 8 Victor Guerin 15 11 16† 5 Ret 5 2 Ret 4 Ret 46 9 Antônio Pizzonia 1 1 Ret 12† 45 10 Antonio Spavone 8 5 9 11 8 Ret 8 8 11 9 8 4 41 11 Giacomo Ricci 6 14 5 3 5 11† 40 12 Giancarlo Serenelli 9 8 11 12 11 11 4 9 10 6 6 Ret 34 13 Max Snegirev 7 6 8 6 13 Ret Ret 11 12 8 10† 7 Ret 7 34 14 Giuseppe Cipriani 11 10 12 14 Ret 9 6 6 Ret Ret Ret 10 Ret Ret 18 15 Sten Pentus 10 10 9 4 14† Ret 14 16 Francesco Dracone 10 8 10 14 13 10 8 9 Ret 9 14 17 Rafael Suzuki 7 6 12 18 Yann Cunha 13 Ret 9 6 8 19 Kotaro Sakurai 7 Ret 6 20 Pippa Mann 9 8 5 21 Adderly Fong 13 7 Ret 13 4 22 Michele La Rosa 12 12 14 15 12 12 12 Ret DNS 11 9 11 10 10 4 23 Juan Carlos Sistos 9 Ret 2 24 Matteo Beretta DNS 15 17† 13 0 25 Peter Milavec 15 16 0 Pos Driver MNZ VAL MAR HUN ALG CUR SON PointsBold – Pole for Race One Italics – Fastest Lap

Under-21 Trophy Pos Driver MNZ VAL MAR HUN ALG CUR SON Points 1 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 6 12† Ret 2 250 2 Sergey Sirotkin 14 4 1 3 6 2 13† 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 216 3 Pål Varhaug 2 1 3 8 3 7 5 1 2 Ret 2 5 1 5 208 4 Daniël de Jong 3 Ret 4 4 7 Ret 11 12 7 7 4 3 2 6 137 5 Facu Regalia 4 9 7 2 Ret 10 3 10 6 5 96 6 Antonio Spavone 8 5 9 11 8 Ret 8 8 11 8 8 4 96 7 Victor Guerin 15 11 16† 5 Ret 5 2 Ret 4 Ret 66 8 Yann Cunha 13 Ret 9 6 24 10 Kotaro Sakurai 7 Ret 12 9 Matteo Beretta DNS 15 17† 13 9 10 Juan Carlos Sistos 9 Ret 6 Pos Driver MNZ VAL MAR HUN ALG CUR SON Points

Teams' Championship Pos Team MNZ VAL MAR HUN ALG CUR SON Points 1 Super Nova International 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 1 1 6 12† Ret 2 267 15 11 16† 5 Ret 5 2 Ret 4 Ret 2 Manor MP Motorsport 3 2 4 4 4 1 7 5 7 2 4 2 2 6 231 5 Ret 6 7 7 Ret 11 12 8 7 5 3 3 Euronova Racing 8 4 1 3 6 2 8 3 3 3 3 4 3 1 219 14 5 9 11 8 Ret 13† 8 11 9 11† 8 7 Ret 4 Virtuosi UK 2 1 3 8 3 7 5 1 2 10 2 5 1 5 198 DNS 15 10 10 10 8 10 14 13 Ret 8 9 Ret 9 5 Campos Racing 4 6 7 2 13 9 3 6 6 5 10† 7 9 7 124 7 9 8 6 Ret 10 6 10 12 8 Ret 10 Ret 8 6 Ombra Racing 9 7 11 12 9 6 4 9 10 6 1 1 6 4 117 13 8 13 Ret 11 11 Ret 13 7 6 8 Ret 7 Team MLR71 10 12 5 9 1 12 12 7 5 4 9 11 5 10 77 12 13 14 15 12 13 Ret Ret DNS 11 10 11† 8 Zele Racing 6 14 15 13 5 3 9 4 9 Ret 4 3 68 17† 16 14† Ret Ret 12† Pos Team MNZ VAL MAR HUN ALG CUR SON PointsBold – Pole for Race One Italics – Fastest Lap

References

External links Official Auto GP World Series site