# 2012 Indy Lights

The 2012 Indy Lights season was the 27th season of the series and the eleventh sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IZOD IndyCar Series. It began March 24, 2012 in St. Petersburg.
The championship was dominated by the Sam Schmidt Motorsports team with French driver Tristan Vautier winning the championship by eight points ahead of experienced Argentine team mate Esteban Guerrieri. SSM drivers won seven out of the twelve races over the course of the season and Vautier also claimed the rookie of the year title. Colombian driver Gustavo Yacamán from Team Moore Racing finished a tight battle for third with countryman Sebastián Saavedra.

## Team and driver chart

* All drivers will compete in Firestone Firehawk–shod Dallara chassis.
| Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 3 | Victor Carbone | All |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 7 | Oliver Webb | All |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 11 | Esteban Guerrieri | All |
| Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 77 | Tristan Vautier | All |
| Team Moore Racing | 2 | Gustavo Yacamán | All |
| Team Moore Racing | 22 | David Ostella | All |
| Andretti Autosport AFS Racing | 26 | Carlos Muñoz | All |
| Andretti Autosport AFS Racing | 27 | Sebastián Saavedra | All |
| Bryan Herta Autosport | 28 | Troy Castaneda | 1–2 |
| Bryan Herta Autosport | 28 | Nick Andries | 3 |
| Bryan Herta Autosport | 28 | Anders Krohn | 4, 7 |
| Juncos Racing | 86 | João Victor Horto | 1–2, 4 |
| Juncos Racing | 86 | Bruno Palli | 12 |
| Juncos Racing | 86 | Chase Austin | 7 |
| Juncos Racing | 87 | Chase Austin | 4 |
| Team E | 17 | Brandon Wagner | 4 |
| Belardi Auto Racing | 4 | Jorge Goncalvez | All |
| Belardi Auto Racing | 9 | Alon Day | 1–7 |
| Belardi Auto Racing | 9 | Peter Dempsey | 8–12 |
| Belardi Auto Racing | 19 | Mike Larrison | 4, 6–7, 12 |
| Brooks Associates Racing | 8 | Alex Jones | 3 |
| Brooks Associates Racing | 8 | Adderly Fong | 11 |
| Fan Force United | 24 | Armaan Ebrahim | 1–5 |
| Fan Force United | 24 | Bryan Clauson | 6–7 |
| Fan Force United | 24 | Stefan Wilson | 12 |
| Fan Force United | 42 | Emerson Newton-John | 4, 11 |
| Younessi Racing | 15 | Peter Dempsey | 4–5 |
| Younessi Racing | 16 | Rodin Younessi | 1, 5 |
| Jeffrey Mark Motorsport | 76 | Juan Pablo Garcia | All |
| Hillenburg Motorsports | 20 | Darryl Wills | 1–3 |

## Schedule

IndyCar announced that all Firestone Indy Lights Series races would be broadcast on the NBC Sports Network in 2012.
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Track | Location |
| 1 | March 24 | St. Petersburg 100 | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 2 | April 1 | Grand Prix of Alabama | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 3 | April 15 | Grand Prix of Long Beach | Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California |
| 4 | May 25 | Firestone Freedom 100 | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | Speedway, Indiana |
| 5 | June 2 | Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix | Belle Isle | Detroit, Michigan |
| 6 | June 15 | Firestone Indy Lights 100 | Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 7 | June 22 | Sukup 100 | Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa |
| 8 | July 7 | Toronto 100 | Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario |
| 9 | July 21 | Edmonton 100 | Edmonton City Centre Airport | Edmonton, Alberta |
| 10 | August 5 | Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières | Circuit Trois-Rivières | Trois-Rivières, Quebec |
| 11 | September 1 | Grand Prix of Baltimore | Streets of Baltimore | Baltimore, Maryland |
| 12 | September 15 | Auto Club Speedway Foundation 100 | Auto Club Speedway | Fontana, California |

## Race results

| Rd. | Race | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | St. Petersburg | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 2 | Barber | Sebastián Saavedra | Sebastián Saavedra | Sebastián Saavedra | Sebastián Saavedra | Andretti Autosport |
| 3 | Long Beach | Sebastián Saavedra | Victor Carbone | Esteban Guerrieri | Esteban Guerrieri | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 4 | Indianapolis | Gustavo Yacamán | João Victor Horto | Victor Carbone | Esteban Guerrieri | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 5 | Belle Isle | Oliver Webb | Gustavo Yacamán | Oliver Webb | Gustavo Yacamán | Team Moore Racing |
| 6 | Milwaukee | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 7 | Iowa | Tristan Vautier | Esteban Guerrieri | Tristan Vautier | Esteban Guerrieri | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 8 | Toronto | Victor Carbone | Gustavo Yacamán | Gustavo Yacamán | Gustavo Yacamán | Team Moore Racing |
| 9 | Edmonton | Carlos Muñoz | Esteban Guerrieri | Carlos Muñoz | Carlos Muñoz | Andretti Autosport |
| 10 | Trois-Rivières | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 11 | Baltimore | Tristan Vautier | Sebastián Saavedra | Tristan Vautier | Tristan Vautier | Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 12 | Fontana | Sebastián Saavedra | David Ostella | Carlos Muñoz | Carlos Muñoz | Andretti Autosport |

## Driver standings

| Pos | Driver | STP | BAR | LBH | INDY | DET | MIL | IOW | TOR | EDM | TRO | BAL | FON | Pts |
| 1 | Tristan Vautier RY | 1* | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1* | 4* | 11 | 6 | 1* | 1* | 4 | 461 |
| 2 | Esteban Guerrieri | 2 | 3 | 1* | 1 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 453 |
| 3 | Gustavo Yacamán | 6 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 1* | 7 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 394 |
| 4 | Sebastián Saavedra | 3 | 1* | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 383 |
| 5 | Carlos Muñoz R | 14 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 1* | 3 | 11 | 1* | 377 |
| 6 | Victor Carbone | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6* | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | DNS | 5 | 340 |
| 7 | Oliver Webb R | 4 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 3* | 12 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 310 |
| 8 | David Ostella | 15 | 9 | 8 | 18 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 298 |
| 9 | Juan Pablo Garcia | 7 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 260 |
| 10 | Jorge Goncalvez | 11 | 10 | 9 | 12 | DNS | 9 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 247 |
| 11 | Peter Dempsey | | | | 14 | 11 | | | 4 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 164 |
| 12 | Alon Day R | 12 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | DNS | | | | | | 147 |
| 13 | Armaan Ebrahim R | 8 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 10 | | | | | | | | 97 |
| 14 | Mike Larrison R | | | | 9 | | 13 | 11 | | | | | 9 | 80 |
| 15 | João Victor Horto R | 13 | 7 | | 7 | | | | | | | | | 69 |
| 16 | Darryl Wills R | 10 | 11 | 15 | | | | | | | | | | 54 |
| 17 | Chase Austin R | | | | 10 | | | 8 | | | | | | 44 |
| 18 | Bryan Clauson | | | | | | 10 | 10 | | | | | | 40 |
| 19 | Troy Castaneda R | 9 | 15 | | | | | | | | | | | 37 |
| 20 | Anders Krohn | | | | 19 | | | 9 | | | | | | 34 |
| 21 | Rodin Younessi R | 16 | | | | 12 | | | | | | | | 32 |
| 22 | Emerson Newton-John R | | | | 17 | | | | | | | 12 | | 31 |
| 23 | Stefan Wilson | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | 28 |
| 24 | Bruno Palli R | | | | | | | | | | | | 7 | 26 |
| 25 | Adderly Fong R | | | | | | | | | | | 8 | | 24 |
| 26 | Nick Andries R | | | 13 | | | | | | | | | | 17 |
| 27 | Alex Jones R | | | 14 | | | | | | | | | | 16 |
| 28 | Brandon Wagner | | | | 16 | | | | | | | | | 14 |
| Pos | Driver | STP | BAR | LBH | INDY | DET | MIL | IOW | TOR | EDM | TRO | BAL | FON | Pts |
| Color | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | 4th & 5th place |
| Light Blue | 6th–10th place |
| Dark Blue | Finished (Outside Top 10) |
| Purple | Did not finish |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Brown | Withdrawn (Wth) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| Blank | Did not participate (DNP) |
| Blank | Not competing |
In-line notation :
| Bold | Pole position (1 point) |
| Italics | Ran fastest race lap |
| * | Led most race laps (2 points) |
| $^1$ | Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded |
| Rookie of the Year ||
| Rookie ||
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 |
| Points | 50 | 40 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
* Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

## Footnotes

* ↑ In conjunction with Curb Agajanian Performance Group.
* ↑ In technical alliance with Bryan Herta Autosport.