# 2012 FIA GT1 Nogaro round

The 2012 Easter Cup (French: Coupes de Pâques 2012) is a motor race that will be the first of ten rounds in the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship season. It will take place at the Circuit Paul Armagnac in France on 8 April 2012. The race will be the first time the opening race of the GT1 World Championship season has not taken place at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Eighteen cars representing nine manufacturers will take part in the race, including six new manufacturers and seven new teams. The event will also be the first round of the 2012 FIA GT3 European Championship season.
AF Corse's Toni Vilander and Filip Salaquarda started the qualifying race from pole position. The qualifying race was won by Audi drivers Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor, with team-mates Frank Stippler and Oliver Jarvis in second place.

## Qualifying
### Qualifying result

Qualifying decides the grid order for the Qualifying Race, which in turn decides the grid order for the Championship Race. It is divided into three twenty-minute sessions. Each car has two drivers, designated "Driver 1" and "Driver 2". Driver 1 takes part in the first and third sessions, while Driver 2 takes part in the second session. At the end of the first session, the three slowest cars are eliminated, while the six slowest cars in the second session are also eliminated. The third and final session is contested between the remaining eight cars.
As the No. 11 Sunred Ford of Emmanuel Moncini and Andy Soucek was withdrawn from the event, three cars were eliminated from the first session instead of the normal four.
| Pos. | No. | Driver 1 | Team | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Grid |
| Pos. | No. | Driver 2 | Team | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Grid |
| 1 | 3 | Toni Vilander | AF Corse | 1:26.776 | 1:26.907 | 1:26.138 | 1 |
| 1 | 3 | Filip Salaquarda | AF Corse | 1:26.776 | 1:26.907 | 1:26.138 | 1 |
| 2 | 32 | Stéphane Ortelli | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 1:26.930 | 1:26.750 | 1:26.250 | 2 |
| 2 | 32 | Laurens Vanthoor | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 1:26.930 | 1:26.750 | 1:26.250 | 2 |
| 3 | 33 | Frank Stippler | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 1:26.915 | 1:26.736 | 1:26.292 | 3 |
| 3 | 33 | Oliver Jarvis | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 1:26.915 | 1:26.736 | 1:26.292 | 3 |
| 4 | 38 | Marc Basseng | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | 1:27.617 | 1:26.876 | 1:26.876 | 4 |
| 4 | 38 | Markus Winkelhock | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | 1:27.617 | 1:26.876 | 1:26.876 | 4 |
| 5 | 4 | Enzo Ide | AF Corse | 1:27.932 | 1:26.705 | 1:27.010 | 5 |
| 5 | 4 | Francesco Castellacci | AF Corse | 1:27.932 | 1:26.705 | 1:27.010 | 5 |
| 6 | 37 | Nicky Pastorelli | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | 1:29.163 | 1:26.916 | 1:27.020 | 6 |
| 6 | 37 | Thomas Jäger | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | 1:29.163 | 1:26.916 | 1:27.020 | 6 |
| 7 | 24 | Albert von Thurn und Taxis | Reiter Engineering | 1:27.418 | 1:26.400 | no time | 7 |
| 7 | 24 | Tomáš Enge | Reiter Engineering | 1:27.418 | 1:26.400 | no time | 7 |
| 8 | 2 | Grégoire Demoustier | Hexis Racing | 1:28.873 | 1:27.017 | no time | 8 |
| 8 | 2 | Álvaro Parente | Hexis Racing | 1:28.873 | 1:27.017 | no time | 8 |
| 9 | 9 | Mike Parisy | Exim Bank Team China | 1:27.220 | 1:27.099 | | 9 |
| 9 | 9 | Matt Halliday | Exim Bank Team China | 1:27.220 | 1:27.099 | | 9 |
| 10 | 25 | Darryl O'Young | Reiter Engineering | 1:27.058 | 1:27.321 | | 10 |
| 10 | 25 | Peter Kox | Reiter Engineering | 1:27.058 | 1:27.321 | | 10 |
| 11 | 17 | Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof | Vita4One Racing Team | 1:28.571 | 1:27.765 | | 11 |
| 11 | 17 | Mathias Lauda | Vita4One Racing Team | 1:28.571 | 1:27.765 | | 11 |
| 12 | 18 | Yelmer Buurman | Vita4One Racing Team | 1:28.308 | 1:27.895 | | 12 |
| 12 | 18 | Michael Bartels | Vita4One Racing Team | 1:28.308 | 1:27.895 | | 12 |
| 13 | 7 | Maxime Martin | Valmon Racing Team Russia | 1:28.724 | 1:32.763 | | 13 |
| 13 | 7 | Alexey Vasilyev | Valmon Racing Team Russia | 1:28.724 | 1:32.763 | | 13 |
| 14 | 1 | Frédéric Makowiecki | Hexis Racing | 1:28.004 | no time | | 14 |
| 14 | 1 | Stef Dusseldorp | Hexis Racing | 1:28.004 | no time | | 14 |
| 15 | 8 | Benjamin Lariche | Exim Bank Team China | 1:29.325 | | | 15 |
| 15 | 8 | Ren Wei | Exim Bank Team China | 1:29.325 | | | 15 |
| 16 | 6 | Andreas Zuber | Valmon Racing Team Russia | 1:29.921 | | | 16 |
| 16 | 6 | Sergey Afanasyev | Valmon Racing Team Russia | 1:29.921 | | | 16 |
| 17 | 10 | Miloš Pavlović | Sunred | 1:31.835 | | | 17 |
| 17 | 10 | Matteo Cressoni | Sunred | 1:31.835 | | | 17 |
Notes:
* ^1 — The No. 24 Reiter Lamborghini had its Qualifying 3 times cancelled following a stewards decision.

## Race results
### Qualifying Race

| Pos | No. | Team | Drivers | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired |
| 1 | 32 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Laurens Vanthoor Stéphane Ortelli | Audi | 35 | |
| 2 | 33 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Frank Stippler Oliver Jarvis | Audi | 35 | +6.030 |
| 3 | 24 | Reiter Engineering | Albert von Thurn und Taxis Tomáš Enge | Lamborghini | 35 | +6.914 |
| 4 | 2 | Hexis Racing | Álvaro Parente Grégoire Demoustier | McLaren | 35 | +7.164 |
| 5 | 3 | AF Corse | Filip Salaquarda Toni Vilander | Ferrari | 35 | +31.293 |
| 6 | 38 | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | Marc Basseng Markus Winkelhock | Mercedes-Benz | 35 | +33.785 |
| 7 | 37 | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | Nicky Pastorelli Thomas Jäger | Mercedes-Benz | 35 | +34.414 |
| 8 | 25 | Reiter Engineering | Peter Kox Darryl O'Young | Lamborghini | 35 | +47.177 |
| 9 | 9 | Exim Bank Team China | Mike Parisy Matt Halliday | Porsche | 35 | +48.622 |
| 10 | 4 | AF Corse | Francesco Castellacci Enzo Ide | Ferrari | 35 | +49.997 |
| 11 | 17 | Vita4One Racing Team | Mathias Lauda Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof | BMW | 35 | +1:02.466 |
| 12 | 18 | Vita4One Racing Team | Michael Bartels Yelmer Buurman | BMW | 35 | +1:27.791 |
| 13 | 6 | Valmon Racing Team Russia | Sergey Afanasyev Andreas Zuber | Aston Martin | 34 | +1 Lap |
| 14 | 8 | Exim Bank Team China | Ren Wei Benjamin Lariche | Porsche | 34 | +1 Lap |
| 15 | 10 | Sunred | Miloš Pavlović Matteo Cressoni | Ford | 33 | +2 Laps |
| 16 | 7 | Valmon Racing Team Russia | Alexey Vasilyev Maxime Martin | Aston Martin | 33 | +2 Laps |
| DNS | 1 | Hexis Racing | Frédéric Makowiecki Stef Dusseldorp | McLaren | – | Did not start |
Notes:
* ^1 — The No. 18 Vita4One BMW was given a 30 second post-race penalty for failing to turn off their engine during their pit stop.

### Championship Race

| Pos | No. | Team | Drivers | Manufacturer | Laps | Time/Retired |
| 1 | 32 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Laurens Vanthoor Stéphane Ortelli | Audi | 40 | |
| 2 | 33 | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Frank Stippler Oliver Jarvis | Audi | 40 | +3.731 |
| 3 | 38 | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | Marc Basseng Markus Winkelhock | Mercedes-Benz | 40 | +4.421 |
| 4 | 37 | All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport | Nicky Pastorelli Thomas Jäger | Mercedes-Benz | 40 | +6.366 |
| 5 | 4 | AF Corse | Francesco Castellacci Enzo Ide | Ferrari | 40 | +18.925 |
| 6 | 3 | AF Corse | Toni Vilander Filip Salaquarda | Ferrari | 40 | +21.231 |
| 7 | 25 | Reiter Engineering | Peter Kox Darryl O'Young | Lamborghini | 40 | +21.682 |
| 8 | 24 | Reiter Engineering | Tomáš Enge Albert von Thurn und Taxis | Lamborghini | 40 | +35.234 |
| 9 | 9 | Exim Bank Team China | Mike Parisy Matt Halliday | Porsche | 40 | +49.619 |
| 10 | 18 | Vita4One Racing Team | Michael Bartels Yelmer Buurman | BMW | 40 | +1:00.307 |
| 11 | 17 | Vita4One Racing Team | Mathias Lauda Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof | BMW | 40 | +1:05.808 |
| 12 | 7 | Valmon Racing Team Russia | Maxime Martin Alexey Vasilyev | Aston Martin | 40 | +1:27.167 |
| 13 | 6 | Valmon Racing Team Russia | Sergey Afanasyev Andreas Zuber | Aston Martin | 39 | +1 Lap |
| 14 | 10 | Sunred | Miloš Pavlović Matteo Cressoni | Ford | 38 | +2 Laps |
| 15 | 8 | Exim Bank Team China | Ren Wei Benjamin Lariche | Porsche | 37 | +3 Laps |
| 16 DNF | 2 | Hexis Racing | Grégoire Demoustier Álvaro Parente | McLaren | 18 | Retired |
| 17 DNF | 1 | Hexis Racing | Frédéric Makowiecki Stef Dusseldorp | McLaren | 3 | Throttle |