# 2012 Australian Carrera Cup Championship

The 2012 Porsche City Index Australian Carrera Cup Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as a National Championship, and was recognised by them as the eighth Australian Carrera Cup Championship. Porsche Cars Australia Pty Ltd was appointed as the Category Manager by CAMS for the Championship.
The championship was won by Craig Baird.

## Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers contested the championship.
| Team | No. | Driver | Class | Rounds |
| Alliance Group Racing | 1 | Craig Baird | Pro | All |
| Grove Group | 4 | Stephen Grove | Elite | 5, 7–8 |
| Hunter Sports Group | 5 | Jonny Reid | Pro | 2–8 |
| Hunter Sports Group | 5 | Nathan Tinkler | Elite | 1 |
| Hunter Sports Group | 18 | Nathan Tinkler | Elite | 4 |
| Hunter Sports Group | 96 | Ant Pedersen | Pro | 6 |
| McElrea Racing | 7 | Alex Davison | Pro | All |
| McElrea Racing | 24 | Tony Bates | Elite | 1–4, 6–8 |
| McElrea Racing | 24 | Tim Leahey | Guest | 5 |
| McElrea Racing | 29 | James Davison | Pro | 2 |
| Twigg Motorsport | 8 | Max Twigg | Elite | 1–2, 4–8 |
| Hallmarc Racing | 9 | Marc Cini | Elite | All |
| Hallmarc Racing | 10 | Michael Loccissano | Elite | 2–8 |
| Team BRM | 11 | Nick Foster | Pro | All |
| Team BRM | 20 | Tom Tweedie | Pro | 1–5 |
| Team BRM | 20 | Troy Wilson | Pro | 6 |
| Team BRM | 20 | Morgan Mutch | Pro | 7 |
| Team BRM | 20 | Michael Almond | Pro | 8 |
| Laser Racing | 12 | Steven Richards | Pro | All |
| INCA Motorsports | 17 | Ray Angus | Elite | 2, 5–8 |
| INCA Motorsports | 50 | Matt Kingsley | Pro | 1, 4 |
| INCA Motorsports | 50 | Matt Kingsley | Guest | 5 |
| Team Kiwi Racing | 21 | Andre Heimgartner | Pro | All |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 22 | Mark Skaife | Pro | 2 |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 40 | Max Twigg | Elite | 3 |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 40 | Jeff Bobik | Pro | 4 |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 60 | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | Guest | 2 |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 60 | Jeroen Bleekemolen | Guest | 6 |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 88 | Shae Davies | Pro | 7–8 |
| Porsche Cars Australia | 96 | Alexandre Imperatori | Guest | 8 |
| Rusty French Racing | 27 | Daniel Gaunt | Pro | All |
| Supabarn Motorsport | 47 | James Koundouris | Elite | 1–4, 6–8 |
| Hamilton Autohaus | 56 | Shane Smollen | Elite | 1–7 |
| Racing Incident | 66 | Peter Hill | Elite | 2 |
| Racing Incident | 66 | Theo Koundouris | Elite | 8 |
| Brighton Speedshop | 90 | Paul Kelly | Elite | 1–4 |
Note: Only Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars were eligible to compete in the championship.

## Race calendar

The championship was contested over an eight round series with each round decided over a number of races with a minimum total race time of one hour at each round.
| Round | Circuit | Location / state | Date | Format | Winner |
| 1 | Adelaide Street Circuit | Adelaide, South Australia | 1—4 March | Three races | Alex Davison |
| 2 | Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit | Melbourne, Victoria | 15—18 March | Three races | Craig Baird |
| 3 | Barbagallo Raceway | Perth, Western Australia | 4—6 May | Three races | Jonny Reid |
| 4 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 18—20 May | Three races | Craig Baird |
| 5 | Townsville Street Circuit | Townsville, Queensland | 6—8 July | Three races | Jonny Reid |
| 6 | Mount Panorama Circuit | Bathurst, New South Wales | 4—7 October | Three races | Craig Baird |
| 7 | Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Queensland | 19—21 October | Three races | Jonny Reid |
| 8 | Homebush Street Circuit | Sydney, New South Wales | 30 November—2 December | Three races | Jonny Reid |

## Championship summary

Round 1 in Adelaide was won by returning 2004 Champion Alex Davison from defending champion Craig Baird with Daniel Gaunt third. The elite class was won by James Koundouris.
Round 2 was held as a support race to the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. A classy field assembled including former Grand Prix winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen, former V8 Supercar Champion and Bathurst 1000 winner Mark Skaife, 2011 runner-up Jonny Reid and returning from racing sports cars in the USA, James Davison. But the regulars showed the way with Craig Baird winning all three races, followed by Reid, with round 1 winner Alex Davison third. The elite class was won by Max Twigg.

## Points system

Points were awarded to the first 25 finishers in each race as per the following table.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th |
| Points | 60 | 54 | 48 | 42 | 36 | 32 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
In addition to competing for the outright championship, each driver was classified as either Professional or Elite and contested the relevant class title. Points were awarded for class places in each race on the same basis as for the outright championship.

## Championship standings
### Outright

| Pos | Driver | Ade | Ade | Ade | Alb | Alb | Alb | Bar | Bar | Bar | Phi | Phi | Phi | Tow | Tow | Tow | Bat | Bat | Bat | Sur | Sur | Sur | Hom | Hom | Hom | Pen. | Pts |
| 1 | Craig Baird | 7th | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 8th | 2nd | 2nd | 3rd | | 1267 |
| 2 | Jonny Reid | | | | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | Ret | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 6th | 2nd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | | 1104 |
| 3 | Alex Davison | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | 3rd | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | Ret | 9th | 2nd | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 5th | 4th | 3rd | Ret | 6th | 3rd | 6th | 5th | 4th | 6 | 1041 |
| 4 | Daniel Gaunt | 3rd | 3rd | 5th | 10th | 13th | 12th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 1st | 2nd | 7th | 4th | 7th | 5th | 6th | 6th | 7th | 4th | 4th | 6th | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | | 920 |
| 5 | Steven Richards | Ret | Ret | 4th | 11th | 6th | 4th | 6th | 4th | 6th | 2nd | 3rd | 11th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 5th | 5th | 3rd | 3rd | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 6th | | 884 |
| 6 | Nick Foster | 2nd | 10th | 10th | 18th | 10th | 7th | 4th | 8th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 6th | 4th | 14th | 12th | 7th | 4th | Ret | Ret | 5th | 5th | 6th | 5th | 60 | 641 |
| 7 | Andre Heimgartner | 4th | 4th | 15th | 9th | 7th | 5th | 9th | 6th | 9th | 4th | 15th | 6th | 8th | 8th | Ret | 16th | 17th | 9th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 8th | Ret | 10th | | 622 |
| 8 | Max Twigg | 8th | 8th | 7th | 6th | 8th | 9th | 14th | 10th | 8th | 6th | 7th | 9th | 12th | 12th | 8th | 9th | 9th | 12th | 8th | 8th | 9th | 11th | 10th | 8th | | 606 |
| 9 | James Koundouris | 6th | 7th | 8th | 8th | 11th | 10th | 8th | 9th | 15th | 7th | 10th | Ret | | | | 10th | 11th | 10th | 12th | 9th | 11th | 10th | 8th | 9th | | 472 |
| 10 | Tony Bates | 10th | 9th | 9th | 14th | 14th | 17th | 11th | 11th | 11th | 9th | 13th | 14th | | | | 8th | 12th | 11th | Ret | 10th | 10th | 17th | 9th | 12th | | 356 |
| 11 | Michael Loccisano | | | | 13th | 16th | 14th | 12th | 13th | 13th | 11th | 14th | 15th | 14th | 13th | 11th | 14th | 15th | 15th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 12th | 15th | 15th | | 315 |
| 12 | Tom Tweedie | 5th | 5th | 6th | Ret | Ret | 11th | 7th | 7th | 7th | Ret | 8th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Ret | | | | | | | | | | | 315 |
| 13 | Marc Cini | Ret | 11th | 11th | 15th | 17th | 16th | Ret | 15th | 14th | 12th | 17th | 13th | 15th | 14th | 10th | 13th | 13th | 13th | 9th | Ret | 16th | 13th | 11th | 13th | | 312 |
| 14 | Shane Smollen | 9th | 12th | 13th | Ret | DNS | DNS | 10th | 12th | 10th | 8th | 16th | 12th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 7th | 18th | 18th | 7th | Ret | DNS | | | | | 288 |
| 15 | Ray Angus | | | | 17th | DSQ | 15th | | | | | | | 13th | 15th | 9th | 15th | 14th | 16th | 13th | Ret | 15th | 15th | 13th | 16th | | 186 |
| 16 | Paul Kelly | 12th | 14th | 12th | 16th | 15th | 18th | 13th | 14th | 12th | Ret | 12th | Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | 178 |
| 17 | Matt Kingsley | Ret | 6th | 3rd | | | | | | | 10th | 6th | 5th | 7th | 6th | 6th | | | | | | | | | | | 168 |
| 18 | Shae Davies | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8th | 6th | 7th | 9th | 16th | 11th | | 147 |
| 19 | Stephen Grove | | | | | | | | | | | | | 16th | 16th | 13th | | | | 14th | 13th | 14th | 14th | 14th | Ret | | 138 |
| 20 | James Davison | | | | 5th | 5th | 6th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 116 |
| 21 | Mark Skaife | | | | 7th | 9th | Ret | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 58 |
| 22 | Ant Pedersen | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 18th | 8th | 8th | | | | | | | | 58 |
| 23 | Nathan Tinkler | 11th | 13th | 14th | | | | | | | Ret | Ret | 16th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 54 |
| 24 | Peter Hill | | | | 12th | 12th | 13th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 52 |
| 25 | Jeff Bobik | | | | | | | | | | 13th | 11th | 10th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 52 |
| 26 | Theo Koundouris | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 16th | 12th | 14th | | 45 |
| 27 | Troy Wilson | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11th | 10th | 14th | | | | | | | | 42 |
| 28 | Michael Almond | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ret | DNS | DNS | | 0 |
| 29 | Morgan Mutch | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ret | Ret | Ret | | | | | 0 |
| Guest drivers ineligible for points ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | Jeroen Bleekemolen | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4th | 2nd | 2nd | | | | | | | | 0 |
| | Heinz-Harald Frentzen | | | | 4th | 4th | 8th | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| | Alexandre Imperatori | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 7th | 7th | 7th | | 0 |
| | Tim Leahey | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11th | 9th | 7th | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | Ade | Ade | Ade | Alb | Alb | Alb | Bar | Bar | Bar | Phi | Phi | Phi | Tow | Tow | Tow | Bat | Bat | Bat | Sur | Sur | Sur | Hom | Hom | Hom | Pen. | Pts |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |

### Professional Class

Craig Baird won the Professional Class pointscore from Jonny Reid and Alex Davison.

### Elite Class

Max Twigg won the Elite Class from James Koundouris and Tony Bates.