The 2012 Star Mazda Championship was the 14th season of the Star Mazda Championship, an American-based open-wheel racing series sanctioned by IndyCar as part of the Road to Indy program. It featured 17 races held over 10 race weekends.[1] Five race weekends were held on temporary street courses, three on permanent road courses, and two on ovals. The series increased the number of double-header weekends to reduce the costs per race for competitors. Fastest lap times in race 1 determined the starting grid for race 2 on double-header race weekends.[2]
The championship consisted of a main championship as well as a Star Mazda Expert Series for drivers over 30 years old. The expert class consists of a driver's best 10 races, enabling an Expert Series competitor to complete a full complement of races in just five race weekends.[2]
21-year-old Englishman Jack Hawksworth driving for Team Pelfrey dominated the championship, winning eight of the 17 races and four of the eight poles awarded, setting a series record for wins in a season. He sat out the final race of the year but still won the championship over Colombian-American Gabby Chaves by 37 points. Chaves won the final two races of the season. American Sage Karam won three races and finished third in points in a tie-breaker over fellow American Connor De Phillippi who won two races after finishing second in points a year ago. Finn Petri Suvanto finished fifth in points, in his first season in Star Mazda, winning the seat by winning the Road to Indy's U.S. F2000 National Championship the year before. Other race winners were Chile's Martin Scuncio and Venezuela's Camilo Schmidt, who won a bizarre wet-dry race in Edmonton.
American Walt Bowlin won the Expert series championship by virtue of being the only Expert series competitor to participate in more than two race weekends.
Drivers and teams
| Team | No. | Drivers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 Juncos Racing |
2 | Connor De Phillippi |
|
| 15 |  Bruno Palli[3] |
||
| 22 |  Martin Scuncio |
Skipped Road Atlanta | |
| 57 | Diego Ferreira[3] |
||
| JDC MotorSports |
9 |  Juan Piedrahita[4] |
|
| 16 | Lloyd Read |
Laguna Seca only | |
| Scott Anderson |
Road Atlanta only | ||
| 19 | Gabby Chaves |
||
| 91 | Ashley Freiberg[5] |
||
| 99 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Stefan Rzadzinski |
Skipped Indianapolis, Iowa, Trois-Rivières, Laguna Seca, and Road Atlanta | |
| The Racing Company |
10 | Jérimy Daniel |
Skipped Indianapolis, Iowa and Edmonton |
| World Speed Motorsports |
18 | Kyle Kaiser |
Laguna Seca only |
| Linares Racing |
20 | Carlos Linares |
|
| 21 | Camilo Schmidt |
Skipped Trois-Rivières | |
| AIM Autosport |
23 | Walt Bowlin |
Expert series; skipped Indianapolis, Iowa, Edmonton and Trois-Rivières |
| 66 | Zack Meyer |
||
| 72 | Larry Pegram |
Expert series; St. Pete and Barber only | |
| Team GDT |
33 | Ryan Tveter |
Skipped Barber, Indianapolis, and Iowa |
| 39 | Cory Lewis |
Toronto only | |
| 51 | Alex Ardoin |
Trois-Rivières only | |
| 53 | Andrés Méndez[6] |
||
| 65 | J. W. Roberts |
Expert series; St. Pete only | |
| 97 | Juan Camilo Acosta |
Road Atlanta only | |
| Robertshaw Racing |
42 | Blair Robertshaw |
Expert series; Edmonton only |
| Andretti Autosport |
77 | Zach Veach[7] |
|
| 88 | Sage Karam[8] |
||
| Team Pelfrey |
81 |  Petri Suvanto[9] |
|
| 82 |  Jack Hawksworth[10] |
Skipped Road Atlanta | |
| Ryan Tveter |
Road Atlanta only | ||
| 83 | Gustavo Menezes[11] |
Race calendar and results
The series schedule was announced December 1, 2011. Two race weekends were listed on the schedule with the location yet to be determined.[2] The season finale was later confirmed to be held at Road Atlanta, supporting the Petit Le Mans sportscar event.[1]
Championship standings
Drivers'
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| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Points | 29 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Teams'
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Pelfrey |
451 |
| 2 | Juncos Racing |
416 |
| 3 | JDC MotorSports |
401 |
| 4 | Andretti Autosport |
349 |
| 5 | Team GDT |
195 |
| 6 | Linares Racing |
188 |
| 7 | AIM Autosport |
161 |
| 8 | The Racing Company |
76 |
| 9 | World Speed Motorsports |
24 |
References
- 1 2 "Star Mazda Championship Announces 2012 Season Finale to Be Held at 15th Annual Petit LeMans Powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta October 17–20" (PDF). December 16, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2012. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
- 1 2 3 THE STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP TAKES A MAJOR STEP FORWARD IN 2012 WITH AN 18-RACE SCHEDULE ON 10 WEEKENDS, MOST WITH INDYCAR Archived 2011-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, Star Mazda Championship, December 1, 2011, Retrieved 2011-12-04
- 1 2 Juncos Racing Inks Venezuelans Palli and Ferreira for 2012 Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, February 13, 2012, Retrieved 2012-02-13
- ↑ Piedrahita Rejoins JDC MotorSports for Title Challenge Archived 2012-05-06 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, December 12, 2011, Retrieved 2011-12-12
- ↑ "'Woman Empowered' Freiberg joins JDC". Indycar.com. 6 February 2012. Archived from the original on 9 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ↑ Team GDT Signs Colombian Up-and-Comer Mendez Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, February 1, 2012, Retrieved 2012-02-01
- ↑ Andretti Autosport Confirms Veach, eFormulaCarNews, January 13, 2012, Retrieved 2012-01-13
- ↑ Rookie of the Year Karam Returns with Andretti Autosport Archived 2012-05-06 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, December 12, 2011, Retrieved 2011-12-12
- ↑ Star Mazda: USF2000 Champion Suvanto Joins Defending Team Champion Team Pelfrey Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, January 20, 2012, Retrieved 2012-01-20
- ↑ Hawksworth Signs With Team Pelfrey For Star Mazda Championship Archived 2012-07-11 at archive.today, Paddock Talk, November 22, 2011, Retrieved 2011-12-04
- ↑ Menezes joins Pelfrey Star Mazda squad, Racer, November 29, 2011, Retrieved 2011-12-04