Le Mans 24 Hours 2012 / January 18, 2012 Peugeot, a major player in sports car endurance racing, has announced that it has pulled out of racing this season for financial reasons - and this includes the prestigeous Le Mans 24 Heures in June 2012.
The French company is Europe's second biggest carmaker but has seen sales slip by 6.1% in 2011.
"This decision has been taken in the context of a difficult economic environment in Europe," the French carmaker said in a statement on the company website. "Peugeot has chosen to concentrate resources on its sales performance in 2012."
Peugeot last won Le Mans in 2009, with their diesel cars finishing second, third, fourth and fifth behind the number two Audi in 2011.
Peugeot had returned to the series in 2007 and its departure leaves Audi as the main automaker in the renewed World Endurance Championship, as the two were set to be main rivals for the WEC title. However, Toyota is returning to Le Mans in June 2012.
Formula 1 2012
Formula 1 bosses have announced an unchanged calendar for 2012, despite continuing doubts over the races in the United States and Bahrain.
The revived US race, due to take place on a new track in Austin, Texas, had been given a deadline of this week to raise money to pay the sanctioning fee.
Meanwhile, there are concerns about the wisdom of racing in Bahrain next April because of continuing civil unrest.
A bomb exploded outside the British embassy there only on Sunday.
Despite that, the race was included on an unchanged 20-race calendar issued by a meeting of the World Council of governing body the FIA in Delhi on Wednesday.
Bahrain's Grand Prix was cancelled in 2011 after months of controversy following civil unrest in February in which more than 40 people were killed.
The country's response to the violence was heavily criticised last month in an independent report, which accused the Gulf kingdom of "excessive force", torture and wrongful arrest.
Although the king of Bahrain has since promised reforms to prevent abuses by security forces, unrest has continued there.
Despite retaining its place on the calendar, insiders predict that the race, scheduled for 22 April, is unlikely to happen in 2012.
If unrest continues, it is considered likely that, at some point in the new year, the Bahrainis will issue a statement calling off the race, saying they do not want to put F1 at risk by bringing the sport into a volatile environment.
F1 commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone has always insisted it would go ahead - as he did last year until the Bahrainis called it off.
If Bahrain is cancelled, there has been speculation that the Turkish Grand Prix outside Istanbul, which has lost its place on the calendar this year, will be revived.
The Texas race, which is due to take place as the penultimate grand prix of the season on 18 November, is also in doubt after Ecclestone ripped up the contract of its initial promoter.
Ecclestone has been trying to do a new deal with a new promoter - but at a reported price of £22.4m per year, rather than the £16m at which the circuit was initially awarded the deal.
A report on the Pitpass website, which has close links with Ecclestone, said on Wednesday that a new commercial deal had been agreed. There have also been doubts about South Korea, whose organisers are trying to negotiate a reduced fee with Ecclestone - but it, too, is on the calendar.
Ecclestone told BBC Sport at the Brazilian Grand Prix two weeks ago: "We're having a look at that with the promoter because it isn't working for them. We'll try and find the reason it isn't and try to help them."
If Bahrain/Turkey, Texas and South Korea do take place, the 2012 season will be the longest in F1 history, with 20 races.
It starts in Australia on 18 March and finishes in Brazil on 25 November. The British Grand Prix is on 8 July.
The BBC will broadcast coverage from all the races, with 10 of them live and the rest extended highlights.
The live BBC races will be China, Spain, Monaco, Europe (Valencia), Britain, Belgium, Singapore, South Korea, Abu Dhabi and Brazil.
Among other changes announced by the FIA were:
- Confirmation of the requirement for exhausts to exit out of the upper rear bodywork "in order to ensure that the aerodynamic effect exhaust gases have on the car is kept to an absolute minimum" - a ban on the downforce-boosting technology known as "exhaust-blown diffusers" which has dominated development in the last two seasons
- The re-introduction of one three-day in-season test
- A reduction in the maximum race time, in the event of a grand prix being suspended after the start, to four hours from eight. The maximum racing time is still two hours.
- A change to the safety-car rules which will allow all lapped cars to un-lap themselves before a re-start
- Taking shortcuts during practice or qualifying, for example to save fuel, has been banned
F1 Provisional Calendar 2012
- 18 March - Australia
- 25 March - Malaysia
- 15 April - China
- 22 April - Bahrain
- 13 May - Spain
- 27 May - Monaco
- 10 June - Canada
- 24 June - Europe (Valencia)
- 8 July - Great Britain
- 22 July - Germany
- 29 July - Hungary
- 2 September - Belgium
- 9 September - Italy
- 23 September - Singapore
- 7 October - Japan
- 14 October - South Korea
- 28 October - India
- 4 November - Abu Dhabi
- 18 November - United States
- 25 November - Brazil
Moto GP 2012
For the 2012 season, we have been appointed official agents for the Moto GP VIP Hospitality Village. This offers superb viewing and entertainment and full details will be published in our Moto GP pages.
Provisional Moto GP Calendar 2012:
15 April, Qatar * - Doha/Losail
29 April, Spain (STC) - Jerez de la Frontera
06 May, Portugal (STC) - Estoril
20 May, France - Le Mans
03 June, Catalunya - Catalunya
17 June, Great Britain - Silverstone
30 June, Netherlands ** - Assen
08 July, Germany (STC) - TBC
15 July, Italy - Mugello
29 July, United States *** - Laguna Seca
19 August, Indianapolis - Indianapolis
26 August, Czech Rep. - Brno
16 September, San Marino & Riviera di Rimini - Misano
30 September, Aragon - Motorland
14 October, Japan - Motegi
21 October, Malaysia - Sepang
28 October, Australia - Phillip Island
11 November, Valencia - Ricardo Tormo – Valencia
* Evening Race
** Saturday Race
*** Only MotoGP class
STC (Subject to the contract)
TBC (To be confirmed)
Le Mans 24 Hours 2012
Ex-Formula One driver, Martin Brundle, and his son Alex Brundle will be team mates at the 24 Hours of Le Mans race next year (June 16 - 17). The legendary F1 commentator, and the Formula Two ace, will pilot the race-winning Nissan-powered Greaves Motorsport LMP2 prototype. The package sees Brundle senior reunited with Nissan, after the Englishman spearheaded its official works effort in 1997 with the R390 GT1. Martin also won Le Mans for Jaguar in 1990 – midway through his Formula One career (1984 - 1996).
Martin Brundle, 52, said: "I'm very much looking forward to returning to the Le Mans 24 Hour race with Nissan and the Greaves Motorsport LMP2 team. This is an unexpected pleasure, heightened by the fact I will be team-mates with my son. I'm eagerly anticipating a very special feeling when handing the car over to Alex during one of the world's greatest motor races. Class victory in front of the fanatical Le Mans spectators is the goal."
Event Management UK 
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