# 2012 Star Mazda Championship

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. 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.
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.
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 | |
| Juncos Racing | 15 | Bruno Palli | |
| Juncos Racing | 22 | Martin Scuncio | Skipped Road Atlanta |
| Juncos Racing | 57 | Diego Ferreira | |
| JDC MotorSports | 9 | Juan Piedrahita | |
| JDC MotorSports | 16 | Lloyd Read | Laguna Seca only |
| JDC MotorSports | 16 | Scott Anderson | Road Atlanta only |
| JDC MotorSports | 19 | Gabby Chaves | |
| JDC MotorSports | 91 | Ashley Freiberg | |
| JDC MotorSports | 99 | 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 | |
| Linares Racing | 21 | Camilo Schmidt | Skipped Trois-Rivières |
| AIM Autosport | 23 | Walt Bowlin | Expert series; skipped Indianapolis, Iowa, Edmonton and Trois-Rivières |
| AIM Autosport | 66 | Zack Meyer | |
| AIM Autosport | 72 | Larry Pegram | Expert series; St. Pete and Barber only |
| Team GDT | 33 | Ryan Tveter | Skipped Barber, Indianapolis, and Iowa |
| Team GDT | 39 | Cory Lewis | Toronto only |
| Team GDT | 51 | Alex Ardoin | Trois-Rivières only |
| Team GDT | 53 | Andrés Méndez | |
| Team GDT | 65 | J. W. Roberts | Expert series; St. Pete only |
| Team GDT | 97 | Juan Camilo Acosta | Road Atlanta only |
| Robertshaw Racing | 42 | Blair Robertshaw | Expert series; Edmonton only |
| Andretti Autosport | 77 | Zach Veach | |
| Andretti Autosport | 88 | Sage Karam | |
| Team Pelfrey | 81 | Petri Suvanto | |
| Team Pelfrey | 82 | Jack Hawksworth | Skipped Road Atlanta |
| Team Pelfrey | 82 | Ryan Tveter | Road Atlanta only |
| Team Pelfrey | 83 | Gustavo Menezes | |

## 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. The season finale was later confirmed to be held at Road Atlanta, supporting the Petit Le Mans sportscar event.
| Rnd | Circuit | Location | Date | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team | Supporting |
| 1 | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida | March 24 | Connor De Phillippi | Jack Hawksworth | Connor De Phillippi | Juncos Racing | IndyCar Series |
| 2 | Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida | March 25 | | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | IndyCar Series |
| 3 | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama | April 1 | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | IndyCar Series |
| 4 | Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama | April 1 | | Jack Hawksworth | Martin Scuncio | Juncos Racing | IndyCar Series |
| 5 | Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis | Brownsburg, Indiana | May 26 | Connor De Phillippi | Connor De Phillippi | Connor De Phillippi | Juncos Racing | USAC Midgets |
| 6 | Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa | June 23 | Sage Karam | Sage Karam | Sage Karam | Andretti Autosport | IndyCar Series |
| 7 | Streets of Toronto | Toronto, Ontario | July 7 | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | IndyCar Series |
| 8 | Streets of Toronto | Toronto, Ontario | July 8 | | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | IndyCar Series |
| 9 | Edmonton City Centre Airport | Edmonton, Alberta | July 21 | Sage Karam | Jack Hawksworth | Camilo Schmidt | Linares Racing | IndyCar Series |
| 10 | Edmonton City Centre Airport | Edmonton, Alberta | July 22 | | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | IndyCar Series |
| 11 | Circuit Trois-Rivières | Trois-Rivières, Quebec | August 4 | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | Indy Lights |
| 12 | Circuit Trois-Rivières | Trois-Rivières, Quebec | August 5 | | Jack Hawksworth | Sage Karam | Andretti Autosport | Indy Lights |
| 13 | Streets of Baltimore | Baltimore, Maryland | September 1 | Qualifying abandoned | Jack Hawksworth | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | IndyCar Series |
| 14 | Streets of Baltimore | Baltimore, Maryland | September 2 | | Sage Karam | Sage Karam | Andretti Autosport | IndyCar Series |
| 15 | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | September 8 | Jack Hawksworth | Gabby Chaves | Jack Hawksworth | Team Pelfrey | Rolex Sports Car Series |
| 16 | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | September 9 | | Gabby Chaves | Gabby Chaves | JDC MotorSports | Rolex Sports Car Series |
| 17 | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | October 19 | Gabby Chaves | Sage Karam | Gabby Chaves | JDC MotorSports | American Le Mans Series |

## Championship standings
### Drivers'

| Pos | Driver | STP | STP | BAR | BAR | IND | IOW | TOR | TOR | EDM | EDM | TRO | TRO | BAL | BAL | LAG | LAG | ATL | Points |
| Overall ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Jack Hawksworth | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | | 397 |
| 2 | Gabby Chaves | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 360 |
| 3 | Sage Karam | 8 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 7 | 19 | 2 | 325 |
| 4 | Connor De Phillippi | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 325 |
| 5 | Petri Suvanto | 5 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 271 |
| 6 | Diego Ferreira | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 235 |
| 7 | Juan Piedrahita | 4 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 19 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 234 |
| 8 | Martin Scuncio | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 18 | 17 | 9 | 11 | | 232 |
| 9 | Gustavo Menezes | 13 | 10 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 13 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 208 |
| 10 | Zach Veach | 17 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 9 | 17 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 199 |
| 11 | Ashley Freiberg | 9 | 19 | 11 | 11 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 18 | 11 | 162 |
| 12 | Bruno Palli | 14 | 15 | 13 | 20 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 20 | 10 | 5 | 146 |
| 13 | Camilo Schmidt | 12 | 18 | 17 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 19 | 18 | 1 | 9 | | | 17 | 14 | 19 | 6 | 16 | 129 |
| 14 | Andrés Méndez | 15 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 12 | 11 | 18 | 10 | 11 | DSQ | 13 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 128 |
| 15 | Zack Meyer | 19 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 114 |
| 16 | Stefan Rzadzinski | 10 | 8 | 10 | 8 | | | 11 | 12 | 17 | 6 | | | 9 | 11 | | | | 108 |
| 17 | Carlos Linares | 20 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 11 | DNS | 15 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 19 | 14 | 20 | | 106 |
| 18 | Ryan Tveter | 21 | 21 | | | | | 20 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 91 |
| 19 | Walt Bowlin | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | | | 16 | 19 | | | | | 14 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 55 |
| 20 | Jérimy Daniel | 11 | 20 | 20 | 15 | | | 14 | 11 | | | 17 | 14 | | | | | | 49 |
| 21 | Larry Pegram | 16 | 16 | 16 | 13 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 23 |
| 22 | Blair Robertshaw | | | | | | | | | 12 | 14 | | | | | | | | 16 |
| | J. W. Roberts | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Ineligible drivers ||||||||||||||||||||
| | Alex Ardoin | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | 3 | | | | | | 0 |
| | Lloyd Read | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | 7 | | 0 |
| | Corey Lewis | | | | | | | 12 | 21 | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| | Scott Anderson | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 12 | 0 |
| | Kyle Kaiser | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | 13 | | 0 |
| | Juan Camilo Acosta | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | 0 |
| Expert Series ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Walt Bowlin | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | | | 16 | 19 | | | | | 14 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 142 |
| 2 | Larry Pegram | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 56 |
| 3 | Blair Robertshaw | | | | | | | | | 12 | 14 | | | | | | | | 28 |
| | J. W. Roberts | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | STP | STP | BAR | BAR | IND | IOW | TOR | TOR | EDM | EDM | TRO | TRO | BAL | BAL | LAG | LAG | ATL | Points |
| 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 (1 point) |
| 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 |