The 2012 LATAM Challenge Series season is the fifth season of the LATAM Challenge Series. The season started on April 22 in Guadalajara and will finish on November 25 in Puebla. There will be nine double-header events, seven in Mexico and two in the United States (both in Texas). The defending champion Giancarlo Serenelli migrated to Auto GP and GP2.
Drivers
The car will not have changes in this season. The cars were powered by 2019 cm3 L4 Volkswagen FSI Motors. Tatuus chassis are used. Kumho Tires supplies the tires Kumho Ecsta.
Team Tires No. Driver(s) Sponsor(s) Rounds Notes A3 Energy Drink 3 André SolanoA3 Energy Drink1–5 20 James Adams1–2 99 Daniel ForcadellA3 Energy Drink / Avante2–3Forcadell changed his team in the second round. Team CSM 7 Martín FuentesCasino Palace1–5 9 Oscar Arroyo1–5 30 Santiago Creel, Jr.Roca Acero2–3, 5 Homero Richards4 60 Rudy Camarillo1–4 Homero Richards5 RE Racing2 Charlie GuerreroTotis2–44 Antonio ApicellaMindeporte1–516 Francisco CerulloJackers1–537 Alan ChanoskiHerdez1–539 Jose Carlos Sandoval2–542 Gabriel IemmaPDVSA1–552 Sebastián ArriolaGuatemala1–563 José E. López Constructora VIPA1–5 Megaracing99 Daniel ForcadellAvante115 Juan Camilo AcostaTBA5
Team changes
A3 Energy Drink entered to series with two Costa Rican drivers, the 2009 champion André Solano and James Adams.
Driver changes
Leaving LATAM
The three times champion, Giancarlo Serenelli, left the series to run in Auto GP World Series and GP2 Series. Alex Popow left the series to run in Rolex Sports Car Series. Diego Ferreira moved to Star Mazda Championship. Diego Menchaca left the series to run in Formula Renault BARC with Fortec Motorsport.
Mid-season changes Charlie Guerrero, son of the international driver Carlos Guerrero, debuted with RE Racing in the Round 2.
Schedule
The 2012 schedule has two main changes; the Guadalajara and Aguascalientes races will be run, while Monterrey was dropped from the calendar.
RoundRace TitleTrackDateTimeLocalUTC1R1Guadalajara Autódromo Guadalajara, GuadalajaraApril 2216:2821:28R2April 2314:1619:162R3San Luis Potosí Autódromo San Luis 400, San Luis PotosíMay 2014:4019:40R5May 2113:4418:443R5Toluca Circuito Centro Dinámico Pegaso, TolucaJune 1014:4519:45R6June 1114:0019:004R7Zacatecas Autódromo Internacional de Zacatecas, GuadalupeJune 23TBATBAR8June 24TBATBA5R9Aguascalientes Autódromo Internacional de Aguascalientes, AguascalientesJuly 22TBATBAR10July 23TBATBA6R11Distrito Federal Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico CitySeptember 2TBATBAR12September 3TBATBA7R13Houston MSR Houston, Angleton October 14TBATBAR14October 15TBATBA8R15Dallas Eagles Canyon Raceway, DecaturOctober 21TBATBAR16October 22TBATBA9R17Puebla Autódromo Miguel E. Abed, AmozocNovember 25TBATBAR18November 26TBATBA
Race results
RaceRacePole positionFastest lapWinnerTeam1 Guadalajara Francisco Cerullo Rudy Camarillo Rudy Camarillo Team CSM2 Francisco Cerullo Francisco Cerullo RE Racing3 San Luis Potosí Rudy Camarillo Francisco Cerullo André Solano A3 Energy Drink4 Martín Fuentes Martín Fuentes Team CSM5 Toluca Rudy Camarillo Rudy Camarillo Rudy Camarillo Team CSM6 Juan Carlos Sandoval RE Racing7 Zacatecas Francisco Cerullo André Solano Francisco Cerullo RE Racing8 Alan Chanoski RE Racing9 Aguascalientes André Solano Francisco Cerullo André Solano A3 Energy Drink10 Juan Carlos Sandoval RE Racing
Race summaries
Round 1: Guadalajara Grand Challenge
The season started in Autódromo Guadalajara. Rudy Camarillo won the first event (37:05.531, 121.05 km/h). In the second lap, Gabriel Iemma and Sebastián Arriola have a crash, both failed to continue the race. Francisco Cerullo finished in second place 2.964 seconds behind. Martín Fuentes in third place, 8.230 seconds behind Camarillo. The second race, the Venezuelan driver Francisco Cerullo took his maiden victory in the series (37:01.820, 121.25 km/h). Cerullo suffered a puncture in the last lap, but he drove to finished ahead by 5 seconds. The podium again was conformed by Camarillo and Fuentes. Camarillo and Cerullo shared the lead of the championship with 52 points.
Race 1PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime12 60 Rudy Camarillo Team CSM3137:05.5322116 Francisco Cerullo RE Racing31 +2.96433 7 Martín Fuentes Team CSM31 +8.230Race average speed: 121.05 km/hRace 2PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime1716 Francisco Cerullo RE Racing3137:01.82028 60 Rudy Camarillo Team CSM31 + 5.22036 7 Martín Fuentes Team CSM31 +21.790Race average speed: 121.25 km/h
Round 2: San Luis Potosí Grand Challenge
The second race took place in the Autódromo San Luis 400 in Tangamanga Park. Rudy Camarillo started in pole position. He took the lead for more than half of the race, but in the final laps was reversed by André Solano (38:39.519, 117.02 km/h), who finished in first place. Martín Fuentes came in third place, for third time in a row. James Adams had a crash with Francisco Cerullo leaving the Adams' car rear suspension broken. Camarillo accumulated 78 points, 8 ahead of Francisco Cerullo, who set the fastest lap. The second race Martín Fuentes took the lead after yellow flag (39:49.352, 109.68 km/h). Camarillo saw reduced his advantage over Cerullo to only 2 points.
Race 1PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime12 3 André Solano A3 Energy Drink 2938:39.51921 60 Rudy Camarillo Team CSM29 + 0.87834 7 Martín Fuentes Team CSM29 +1.431Race average speed: 117.02 km/hRace 2PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime16 7 Martín Fuentes Team CSM2839:49.3522516 Francisco Cerullo RE Racing28 + 0.83237 60 Rudy Camarillo Team CSM28 +1.963Race average speed: 109.68 km/h
Round 3: Toluca Grand Challenge
The third round will be raced in the Circuito Centro Dinámico Pegaso, in Toluca. The Team CSM's driver Rudy Camarillo took the pole with lap record (0:58.965 119.05 km/h). José Carlos Sandoval will start in the front row. Rudy Camarillo won the first race leading all of the race. Juan Carlos Sandoval finished in second place followed by André Solano. Cerullo, the second in the championship, had an accident and lost positions finished in tenth place. In the race two, Martín Fuentes get the reversed pole, led the race until the lap 13. When Fuentes made a mistake, and fell to 7th place. Juan Carlos Sandoval reached the first place and won his first race in the season. Francisco Cerullo finished in second place and André Solano in third. After the third weekend, Rudy Camarillo stays in the top 22 points ahead of Francisco Cerullo.
Race 1PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime11 60 Rudy Camarillo Team CSM3438:29.2712239 Juan Carlos Sandoval RE Racing34 +2.56136 3 André Solano A3 Energy Drink 34 +4.714Race average speed: 103.35 km/hRace 2PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime1739 Juan Carlos Sandoval RE Racing3535:09.52121016 Francisco Cerullo RE Racing35 +3.48636 3 André Solano A3 Energy Drink 35 +26.001Race average speed: 116.47 km/h
Round 4: Zacatecas Grand Challenge
The fourth round of the season will be in Zacatecas. The 2.04 km of length will be used.
Race 1PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime1 116 Francisco Cerullo RE Racing 41 39:51.1142 2 3 André Solano A3 Energy Drink 41 +0.2713 8 60 Rudy Camarillo Team CSM 41 +8.203Race average speed: 125.92 km/hRace 2PosGridNo.DriverTeamLapsTime1 937 Alan Chanoski RE Racing 402 1152 Sebastián Arriola RE Racing 403 104 Antonio Apicella RE Racing 40Race average speed
Championship standings
RankDriverGDLSLPTOLZACOAMAHRMSRECRPUEPts1 Francisco Cerullo214210211032 1882 André Solano4Ret1Ret332713 1623 Rudy Camarillo122316312 1564 Jose Carlos Sandoval 510214841 1205 Martín Fuentes333184751110 1166 Alan Chanoski106651179155 867 Sebastián Arriola99746811296 728 Antonio Apicella87Ret1145103137 629 Gabriel IemmaRet51165951168 5810 Homero Richards 12924 3811 Oscar Arroyo61089131066109 3812 James Adams54Ret7 3013 Charlie Guerrero RetRet71284RetRet97 2614 Daniel Forcadell711108911 1615 José E. LópezRet8DNSRet12141313712 1216 Santiago Creel, Jr. 9121413 811 10 Juan Camilo Acosta 1213 0 References
Points are awarded to drivers on the following basis (regardless of whether the car is running at the end of the race):
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Saturday race Points 30 24 20 16 12 10 8 6 4 2 Sunday race Points 24 20 16 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Bonus points: 2 for Fastest Lap 2 for Pole Position
References