The 2012 Race of Champions was the 25th running of the event, and took place over 14–16 December 2012 at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.[1][2][3] During the first day, a ROC Thailand contest was held with four local drivers to decide the identity of the Thai representatives. The top two drivers (Nattavude Charoensukawattana and Tin Sritrai) advanced to the ROC Asia contest, where they faced teams from India, China and Japan. The Thai team was guaranteed a place in the main Nations Cup, whilst the second spot was taken by the victorious Indian team formed by F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan and WEC driver Karun Chandhok.[4] During the second day, Germany took their sixth consecutive Nations Cup victory courtesy of Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher, beating France (Sébastien Ogier and Romain Grosjean) in the final 2–0.[5] During the final day, Romain Grosjean won the Race of Champions, beating Tom Kristensen 2–0 in a closely fought final.[6][7] In the UK, the live broadcasts of the latter two days of the event on Motors TV attracted a peak of 44,000 television viewers, a respectable figure for a satellite-only channel.[8]
2012 marked the inaugural ROC Asia event, with drivers from a variety of championships (including Formula One, WEC and Super GT) taking part. The top two drivers from ROC Thailand would represent Thailand in the event.[10]
The ROC Thailand contest was held to decide who would represent Thailand in ROC Asia, the Nations Cup and the Race of Champions. 2001 Asian Touring Car Series champion Charoensukawattana and 1999 Formula Asia champion Horthongkum battled out with drift driver Nana and touring car driver Sritrai to be among the top 2.[10]
Seven cars were used throughout the event. The Toyota GT86 and Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo made their debut in this year, while the Škoda Fabia was dropped.[10]
A 697 metres tarmac track was constructed in the Rajamangala Stadium.[22] The track had a bridge to connect the outer lane with the inner lane in an 8 shape track.[23] All the races were run to 2 laps (1.394 km).[23] In the first day a chicane was placed in the bridge area. The chicane was modified for the second and third day making the lap time longer.[24]
Tom Kristensen made the fastest time (1:14.0680) on the second configuration in an Audi R8 at speed of 67.75 km/h.[22]
^"Bangkok to host 25th Race Of Champions". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
^"The Hindustan Times article on ROC Asia". Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
^"News Story – Team Germany win sixth ROC Nations Cup". Race Of Champions. Archived from the original on 17 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
^ a b"News Story – Grosjean crowned 2012 Champion of Champions". Race Of Champions. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
^The Formula One official site article on the race
^"Motors TV coverage of Race of Champions peaks with 44,000 viewers". The F1 Broadcasting Blog. 17 December 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
^Pre-race article by Fox News
^ a b c d e"The pre race participication list for the competition". Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
^ a b"Tom Kristensen and Andy Priaulx to return". autosport.com. Autosport. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
^"Jorge Lorenzo to make Race Of Champions debut". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 31 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
^ a b"Guerra to partner Hunter-Reay on 'Team Americas'". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 12 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
^"2012 IndyCar Champion Hunter-Reay to race in Bangkok". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
^ a b"Whincup and Doohan pair up for Team Australia". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
^ a b"Reigning champion Ogier partners Grosjean for Team France". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 4 December 2012. Archived from the original on 8 December 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
^"F1's greatest driver of all time Schumacher heads to ROC in Bangkok". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 18 September 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
^"F1 world champion Vettel returns to ROC in Bangkok". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 11 June 2012. Archived from the original on 19 August 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
^"David Coulthard heads to Bangkok for ROC 2012". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 24 October 2012. Archived from the original on 28 December 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.
^ a b c d e f g h i"Vettel and Lorenzo to go head-to-head at ROC". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 10 December 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
^"ROC Asia". raceofchampions.com. Race of Champions. Archived from the original on 9 December 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
^ a b"Race Of Champions – 14th–16th December – Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok". TSL Timing solutions. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
^ a b"The Track". Archived from the original on 29 December 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
Tom Kristensen[11]
Jorge Lorenzo[12]
Benito Guerra[13]
Ryan Hunter-Reay[14]
Mick Doohan[15]
Romain Grosjean[16]
Michael Schumacher[17]
David Coulthard[19]
Karun Chandhok[20]
Nattavude Charoensukawattana
Han Han[20]
Takuto Iguchi[20]
in the tables, and a time penalty of 5 seconds was added to their original time.
