The 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Austria was the sixth round of the 2012 World Touring Car Championship season and the inaugural running of the FIA WTCC Race of Austria. It was held on May 20, 2012 at the Salzburgring, east of Salzburg in Austria. The first race was won by Robert Huff for Chevrolet and the second race was won by Stefano D'Aste for Wiechers-Sport.

Background Yvan Muller came into the event leading the championship 23 points clear of Alain Menu, who was in turn seven points ahead of Robert Huff. Gabriele Tarquini was the leading non-Chevrolet driver, 53 points behind Huff in the standings. Pepe Oriola was leading the Yokohama Independents' Trophy.

Report

Free Practice Alain Menu led a Chevrolet 1-2-3 in the opening practice session, with Tom Coronel for ROAL Motorsport fourth quickest.Menu heads Muller and Huff as Chevrolet dominates WTCC first practice in Austria, Autosport.com.

Menu set the pace once again in the second practice session, with Muller and Huff once again making it a 1-2-3 for Chevrolet. Pasquale di Sabatino surprised by finishing fourth fastest for bamboo-engineering.Alain Menu quickest again in World Touring Car practice two at the Salzburgring, Autosport.com.

Qualifying Huff took pole position ahead of his Chevrolet teammates. Tom Chilton and Franz Engstler made contact in Q1, with BMW of Engstler spinning into the gravel and bringing the red flag out. Tarquini was the fastest non-Chevrolet driver and Alex MacDowall was the fastest independent. Aleksei Dudukalo would take pole position for the reversed grid race., TouringCarTimes. Chilton received a five-place grid penalty for his collision with Engstler., TouringCarTimes.

Warm-Up Four Chevrolets finished morning warm-up at the top of the times, with Muller setting a time faster than Huff's pole position time. Muller finished the session on top ahead of Menu, Huff and MacDowall., TouringCarTimes.

Race One At a circuit where slipstreaming is important, Muller trailed Huff for the whole race to benefit from the tow. Further back, Special Tuning Racing's Darryl O'Young and Engstler Motorsport's Charles Ng tangled, with O'Young requiring attention at the circuit medical centre which would render him unable to start the second race. Huff took his 20th WTCC win ahead of Muller and Menu, Tarquini finished as best of the rest in fourth. MacDowall was the winning independent.Huff soaks up constant pressure from Muller to take 20th WTCC win in Austria, Autosport.com.

Race Two Dudukalo started on pole position for a race which would be known for its multiple tyre issues. Both Dudukalo and his Lukoil Racing Team teammate Tarquini had to pit for fresh rubber due to punctures and Tiago Monteiro retired following a left-front puncture. After this, the three Chevrolets led until Menu went into the gravel on lap eight with a puncture. Shortly after, race one independent winner MacDowall also had a puncture and stopped in the gravel next to Menu's stranded car. The remaining Chevrolets of Muller and Huff comfortably led the BMW pair of Coronel and D'Aste until the final lap when Muller went off at turn 10 with a puncture and Huff suffered a puncture at the final corner. Coronel tried to go up the inside of Huff without success, allowing D'Aste to overtake the pair of them and take the win. Huff held off Coronel despite his puncture to take second.Stefano D'Aste takes first World Touring Car win amid puncture mayhem at the Salzburgring, Autosport.com.

Results

Qualifying Name Team Car Q1 Q2 Points 1 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:27.683 1:26.791 5 2 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:27.346 1:26.933 4 3 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 1:27.501 1:26.961 3 4 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 1:28.162 1:27.490 2 5 11 Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 1:27.813 1:27.573 1 6 18 Tiago Monteiro Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6T 1:28.406 1:27.808 7 26 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 1:28.392 1:27.927 8 74 Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 1:28.100 1:28.122 9 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 1:28.149 1:28.124 10 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 1:28.298 1:28.317 11 20 Darryl O'Young Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 1:28.364 1:28.342 12 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TCY 1:28.293 1:28.373 13 14 James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 1:28.421 14 16 Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 1:28.424 15 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 1:28.582 16 12 Pasquale Di Sabatino bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6TY 1:28.858 17 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 1:28.913 18 7 Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 1:29.137 19 23 Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 1:29.271 20 22 Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León TDiY 1:30.057 21 27 Gábor Wéber Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TCY 1:30.116 Bold denotes Pole position for second race.

Race 1 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 14 23:26.809 1 25 2 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 14 +0.312 2 18 3 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 14 +0.739 3 15 4 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 14 +2.919 4 12 5 18 Tiago Monteiro Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6T 14 +3.483 6 10 6 11 Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 14 +3.774 5 8 7 74 Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCCY 14 +4.741 8 6 8 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 14 +6.923 9 4 9 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 14 +8.419 15 2 10 14 James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 14 +8.914 13 1 11 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 14 +9.796 17 12 12 Pasquale Di Sabatino bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 14 +10.429 16 13 16 Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 14 +12.813 14 14 7 Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 14 +13.178 18 15 27 Gábor Wéber Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 14 +13.983 20 16 23 Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 14 +16.756 21 17 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 14 +18.390 12 18 22 Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León TDiY 14 +1 Lap 19 19 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 14 +3 Laps 10 Ret 26 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 5 Collision 7 Ret 20 Darryl O'Young Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCCY 4 Collision 11 Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Race 2 Name Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid Points 1 26 Stefano D'Aste Wiechers-Sport BMW 320 TCY 12 17:58.529 4 25 2 2 Robert Huff Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +0.377 10 18 3 15 Tom Coronel ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC 12 +0.494 2 15 4 74 Pepe Oriola Tuenti Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 12 +4.103 3 12 5 5 Norbert Michelisz Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +4.929 14 10 6 25 Mehdi Bennani Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC Y 12 +5.432 11 8 7 16 Alberto Cerqui ROAL Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +5.786 13 6 8 1 Yvan Muller Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 12 +6.464 9 4 9 6 Franz Engstler Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TCY 12 +6.474 16 2 10 14 James Nash Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 12 +9.056 12 1 11 23 Tom Chilton Team Aon Ford Focus S2000 TC 12 +12.980 18 12 27 Gábor Wéber Zengő Motorsport BMW 320 TC Y 12 +15.659 19 13 7 Charles Ng Liqui Moly Team Engstler BMW 320 TC Y 12 +37.399 17 14 4 Aleksei Dudukalo Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCCY 11 +1 Lap 1 15 12 Pasquale Di Sabatino bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 11 +1 Lap 15 16 3 Gabriele Tarquini Lukoil Racing SEAT León WTCC 11 +1 Lap 7 Ret 8 Alain Menu Chevrolet Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T 7 Puncture 8 Ret 11 Alex MacDowall bamboo-engineering Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T Y 7 Puncture 6 Ret 18 Tiago Monteiro Tuenti Racing SR León 1.6T 7 Puncture 5 DNS 20 Darryl O'Young Special Tuning Racing SEAT León WTCC Y 0 Injury DNS 22 Tom Boardman Special Tuning Racing SEAT León TDi Y 0 Transmission Bold denotes Fastest lap.

Standings after the round

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Yvan Muller 206 1 2 Robert Huff 198 1 3 Alain Menu 175 1 4 Tom Coronel 116 1 5 Gabriele Tarquini 111

Yokohama Independents' Trophy standings Pos Driver Points 1 Pepe Oriola 90 2 Norbert Michelisz 80 3 Stefano D'Aste 69 4 Franz Engstler 50 5 Mehdi Bennani 41

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 495 2 BMW Customer Racing Teams 335 3 SEAT Racing Technology 316

Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of drivers' standings.

References

External links