2012 Indy Lights season

The 2012 Indy Lights season was the 27th season of the American Indy Lights racing series .

Teams and drivers

All teams used Dallara chassis , Infiniti engines and Firestone tires .

team	No.	driver	run
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	03	Victor Carbone	1-12
	07th	Oliver Webb	1-12
	11	Esteban Guerrieri	1-12
	77	Tristan Vautier	1-12
Andretti Autosport	26th	Carlos Muñoz	1-12
AFS Racing / Andretti Autosport	27	Sebastian Saavedra	1-12
Team Moore Racing	02	Gustavo Yacamán	1-12
	22nd	David Ostella	1-12
Belardi Auto Racing	04th	Jorge Goncalvez	1-12
	09	Alon Day	1-7
		Peter Dempsey	8-12
	19th	Mike Larrison	4, 6, 7, 12
Bryan Herta Autosport	28	Troy Castaneda	1, 2
		Nick Andries	3
		Not so with Krohn	4, 7
Team E.	17th	Brandon Wagner	4th
Juncos Racing	86	JV Horto	1, 2, 4
		Chase Austin	7th
		Bruno Palli	12
	87	Chase Austin	4th
Brooks Associates Racing	08th	Alex Jones	1, 3
		Adderly Fong	11
Fan Force United	24	Armaan Ebrahim	1-5
		Bryan Clauson	6, 7
		Stefan Wilson	12
	42	Emerson Newton-John	4, 11
Hillenburg Motorsports	20th	Darryl Wills	1-3
Jeffrey Mark Motorsport	76	Juan Pablo Garcia	1-12
Younessi Racing	15th	Peter Dempsey	4, 5
	16	Rodin Younessi	1, 5

Remarks

1. ↑ The vehicle is used together with Bryan Herta Autosport .

Changes in the drivers

The following list contains all drivers who took part in the 2011 Indy Lights season and who did not start for the same team in the 2012 season as in 2011.

Drivers who have changed their team:

• Chase Austin : Willy T. Ribbs Racing → Juncos Racing
• Bryan Clauson : Sam Schmidt Motorsports → Fan Force United
• Peter Dempsey : Andretti Autosport → Younessi Racing
• Juan Pablo Garcia : Jensen MotorSport → Jeffrey Mark Motorsport
• Anders Krohn : Belardi Auto Racing → Bryan Herta Autosport
• David Ostella : Jensen MotorSport → Team Moore Racing
• Brandon Wagner : Team Moore Racing → Team E
• Oliver Webb : Jensen MotorSport → Sam Schmidt Motorsports
• Stefan Wilson : Andretti Autosport → Fan Force United

Drivers entering or returning to the Indy Lights:

• Nick Andries : Star Mazda Series ( Team Pelfrey ) → Bryan Herta Autosport
• Troy Castaneda : Time out → Bryan Herta Autosport
• Alon Day : German Formula 3 Cup ( HS Engineering ) → Belardi Auto Racing
• Armaan Ebrahim : FIA Formula 2 Championship → Fan Force United
• Adderly Fong : British Formula 3 Championship ( Sino Vision Racing ) → Brooks Associates Racing
• JV Horto : Star Mazda Series (Juncos Racing) → Juncos Racing
• Alex Jones : Time out → Brooks Associates Racing
• Mike Larrison : USAC Silver Crown Series ( Davey Hamilton Racing ) → Belardi Auto Racing
• Carlos Muñoz : Formula 3 Euro Series ( Signature ) → Andretti Autosport
• Emerson Newton-John : Time out → Fan Force United
• Bruno Palli : Karting → Juncos Racing
• Sebastian Saavedra : IndyCar Series ( Conquest Racing ) → AFS Racing / Andretti Autosport
• Tristan Vautier : Star Mazda Series ( JDC Motorsports ) → Sam Schmidt Motorsports
• Darryl Wills : ASCS Gulf South Regional Series → Hillenburg Motorsports
• Rodin Younessi : US F2000 National Championship ( Pabst Racing Services ) → Younessi Racing

Drivers who left the Indy Lights:

• Bruno Andrade : Bryan Herta Autosport → No racing activity 2012
• Conor Daly : Sam Schmidt Motorsports → GP3 series ( Lotus GP )
• Tyler Dueck : Goree Multisports → No racing activity 2012
• Duarte Ferreira : Bryan Herta Autosport → NASCAR K&N Pro Series East
• Víctor García : Team Moore Racing → No racing activity 2012
• Mikaël Grenier : Team Moore Racing → Karting
• Daniel Herrington : Sam Schmidt Motorsports → No racing activity 2012
• Eric Jensen : Jensen MotorSport → End of career
• Tõnis Kasemets : Team Moore Racing → Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (Multimatic Motorsports)
• Joel Miller : Team E → Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
• Rusty Mitchell : Team E → American Le Mans Series (Project Libra)
• Daniel Morad : Team Moore Racing → No racing activity 2012
• Josef Newgarden : Sam Schmidt Motorsports → IndyCar Series ( Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing )
• Ryan Phinny : Brooks Associates Racing → No racing activity 2012
• Willy T. Ribbs : Willy T. Ribbs Racing → End of career
• Stefan Rzadzinski : Davey Hamilton Racing → Star Mazda Series (JDC Motorsports)
• Jacob Wilson : Belardi Auto Racing → USAC National Silver Crown Championship
• James Winslow : Andretti Autosport → Australian Formula 3 Championship (R-Tek Motorsport)

Changes in the teams

Juncos Racing took over the Indy Lights team from Davey Hamilton Racing .

Racing calendar

The 2012 Indy Lights season consisted of twelve races. New to the racing calendar were the Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit and the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana . Ten races took place as part of the IndyCar Series . The race on the Circuit Trois-Rivières was a single event of the Indy Lights.

No.	date	Racetrack	Art	First	Second	Third
1.	March 24th	Saint Petersburg	T	Tristan Vautier	Esteban Guerrieri	Sebastian Saavedra
2.	0April 1st	Birmingham	P	Sebastian Saavedra	Tristan Vautier	Esteban Guerrieri
3.	April 15th	Long Beach	T	Esteban Guerrieri	Sebastian Saavedra	Tristan Vautier
4th	25. May	Indianapolis	O	Esteban Guerrieri	Carlos Muñoz	Tristan Vautier
5.	02th of June	Detroit	T	Gustavo Yacamán	Carlos Muñoz	Oliver Webb
6th	15th June	West Allis	O	Tristan Vautier	Sebastian Saavedra	Esteban Guerrieri
7th	June 22	Newton	O	Esteban Guerrieri	Gustavo Yacamán	Victor Carbone
8th.	07th of July	Toronto	T	Gustavo Yacamán	Sebastian Saavedra	Victor Carbone
9.	21 July	Edmonton	T	Carlos Muñoz	Sebastian Saavedra	Esteban Guerrieri
10.	05th of August	Trois-Rivières	T	Tristan Vautier	Gustavo Yacamán	Carlos Muñoz
11.	0September 2nd	Baltimore	T	Tristan Vautier	Gustavo Yacamán	Esteban Guerrieri
12.	September 14th	Fontana	O	Carlos Muñoz	David Ostella	Esteban Guerrieri

• Explanation: O : oval course , T : temporary race track ( street course , airfield course ), P : permanent race track

Ratings

Point system

The points were awarded according to the following scheme:

position	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23	24	25th	26th	27	28	29	30th	31	32	33
Points	50	40	35	32	30th	28	26th	24	22nd	20th	19th	18th	17th	16	15th	14th	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

There was also one extra point for pole position and two extra points for the driver who had led the race most of the laps.

Driver ranking

Item driver STP BAR LBH INDY DET Mil IOW GOAL EDM TRO BAL HAIRDRYER Points 01  T. Vautier 1* 2 3 3 5 1* 4 * 11 6th 1* 1* 4th 461 02  E. Guerrieri 2 3 1* 1 7th 3 1 6th 3 4th 3 3 453 03  G. Yacamán 6th 4th 10 4th 1 8th 2 1* 7th 2 2 11 394 04th  S. Saavedra 3 1* 2 5 6th 2 13 2 2 9 10 14th 383 05  C. Muñoz 14th 14th 5 2 2 5 7th 10 1* 3 11 1* 377 06th  V. Carbones 5 5 4th 6 * 4th 6th 3 3 8th 8th 13 5 340 07th  O. Webb 4th 13 6th 15th 3 * 12 12 5 4th 5 6th 8th 310 08th  D. Ostella 15th 9 8th 18th 13 4th 5 7th 10 6th 4th 2 298 09  J. Garcia 7th 8th 7th 11 9 11 14th 8th 9 10 9 10 260 10  J. Goncalvez 11 10 9 12 14th 9 6th 9 11 7th 7th 13 247 11  P. Dempsey       14th 11     4th 5 11 5 12 164 12  A. Day 12 6th 11 8th 8th 7th 15th           147 13  A. Ebrahim 8th 12 12 13 10               97 14th  M. Larrison       9   13 11         9 80 15th  J. Horto 13 7th   7th                 69 16  D. Wills 10 11 15th                   54 17th  C. Austin       10     8th           44 18th  B. Clauson           10 10           40 19th  T. Castaneda 9 15th                     37 20th  A. Krohn       19th     9           34 21st  R. Younessi 16       12               32 22nd  E. Newton-John       17th             12   31 23  S. Wilson                       6th 28 24  B. Palli                       7th 26th 25th  A. Fong                     8th   24 26th  N. Andries     13                   17th 27  A. Jones DNA   14th                   16 28  B. Wagner       16                 14th Item driver STP BAR LBH INDY DET Mil IOW GOAL EDM TRO BAL HAIRDRYER Points

colour meaning gold winner silver 2nd place bronze 3rd place green 4th and 5th place Light Blue 6th to 10th place Dark blue Race ended (outside of the first ten pilots) violet Race not finished red not qualified (DNQ) black disqualified (DSQ) White not at the start (DNS) withdrawn (WD) Race canceled (C) Blank not participated did not appear (DNA) injured or sick (INJ) excluded (EX) Further notation fat Pole position (1 point) Italic Fastest race lap ° Qualifying canceled, no bonus point for pole position * Most leading laps (2 points) Rookie of the Year Rookie

• Tristan Vautier was deducted five points for aggressive driving in Indianapolis, Gustavo Yacamán ten points for the same reason.

Individual evidence

1. ^ "Victor Carbone continues with Schmidt in Indy Lights" (racer.com on December 29, 2011)
2. ↑ “Webb Joins Sam Schmidt Lights Team” (nationalspeedsportnews.com on December 2, 2011)
3. ^ "Indy Lights - Esteban Guerrieri ci riprova con Sam Schmidt Motorsports" (stopandgo.tv on March 15, 2012)
4. ↑ “Vautier joins Schmidt for 2012 Indy Lights season” (racer.com on November 18, 2011)
5. ↑ ^{a b} “Muñoz, Castenada join Indy Lights for St. Pete” (racer.com on March 19, 2012)
6. ↑ "IndyCar - Sebastian Saavedra drives the Indy 500" (Motorsport-Magazin.com on March 6, 2012)
7. ↑ “Yacaman back for another shot at title” ( Memento from March 11, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on March 6, 2012)
8. ↑ “Ostella joins Team Moore” ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on January 2, 2012)
9. ↑ “Goncalvez returns to Belardi Auto Racing” ( Memento from February 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on February 15, 2012)
10. ↑ “Israeli driver makes history” ( Memento from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on January 20, 2012)
11. ↑ “Dempsey joins Belardi Auto Racing for remainder of season”. indycar.com, June 29, 2012, accessed July 7, 2012 . 
12. ^ "Indiana-native Larrison joins Belardi for ovals and Baltimore". indycar.com, May 4, 2012, accessed May 24, 2012 . 
13. ↑ “Andries to make series debut at Long Beach with Herta team” ( Memento from April 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on April 11, 2012)
14. ↑ “'The Viking' returns to Firestone Indy Lights for Freedom 100 with Bryan Herta Autosport”. indycar.com, May 22, 2012, accessed May 24, 2012 . 
15. ↑ "Gustavo Yacamán takes pole position for Indy Lights race at Indianapolis." autosport.com, May 24, 2012, accessed May 24, 2012 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b} “Juncos Racing joins Firestone Indy Lights” ( Memento from December 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on November 29, 2011)
17. ↑ “Horto ready to step up with Juncos”  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) (indycar.com on March 19, 2012)
18. ↑ "Firestone Indy Lights 100 - Entry list". (PDF; 131 kB) indycar.com, September 11, 2012, accessed on September 15, 2012 . 
19. ↑ "Honda Indy 500 Talking Points". honda.com, May 22, 2012, accessed May 24, 2012 . 
20. ↑ ^{a b} “Firestone Indy Lights - St. Petersburg 100” (indycar.com on March 19, 2012; PDF; 93 kB)
21. ^ "Fong joins Firestone Indy Lights with Brooks team". (No longer available online.) Indycar.com, Aug 29, 2012, archived from the original on Aug 30, 2012 ; Retrieved September 2, 2012 . 
22. ↑ “Ebrahim to make US debut” ( Memento from January 9, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on January 3, 2012)
23. ↑ "Fan Force United hires Clauson for two races". indycar.com, June 9, 2012, accessed June 10, 2012 . 
24. ↑ "Stefan Wilson returns to series for finale". indycar.com, September 6, 2012, accessed September 15, 2012 . 
25. ^ Kate Guerra: "Newton-John enters the Freedom 100 with Fan Force United". indycar.com, April 30, 2012, accessed May 24, 2012 . 
26. ↑ “Garcia returns to Firestone Indy Lights” ( Memento from March 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on March 6, 2012)
27. ^ "Dempsey returns to Firestone Indy Lights with Younessi". indycar.com, May 7, 2012, accessed May 24, 2012 . 
28. ↑ “Younessi Racing moving up” ( Memento from March 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on February 28, 2012)
29. ↑ “12 races on Firestone Indy Lights calendar” ( Memento from January 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (indycar.com on December 27, 2011)
30. ↑ Dave Lewandowski: “Yacaman earns second Firestone Indy Lights win”. (No longer available online.) Indycar.com, June 2, 2012, archived from the original on June 4, 2012 ; Retrieved June 3, 2012 . 

Web links

• Official website of the Indy Lights