2012 TM Master Cup season

The 2012 TM Master Cup season is the current season of the TM Master Cup series.

Promotional video
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Preseason changes
A radical shakeup in the technical regulations means the cars will be smaller and boxier. The series will still use turbocharged V6 engines and will allow six speed transmissions as opposed to the five speed transmissions that have been used since 1994.

Drivers from the United Kingdom will also no longer race under the British flag, but will race under the flag of whichever part of the United Kingdom they are from. Therefore, Divina Henton will be shown as English, and Michael Sykes as Welsh.

There were originally slated to be 15 full-time entrants, however, just hours before preseason testing begun, a 16th team was given an entry. The 16th team, BlackDiamond Racing was granted entry after Omecha lobbied for a research and development team after it raised concerns about the future of the sport. The Omecha MA03, like its predecessor, the MA02, is designed to allow teams using it to modify a good deal of it with the use of kits. However, the car BlackDiamond will be using is a developmental car, the BDM3, which will primarily be used to assist the development of future Omecha cars. BlackDiamond Racing will be at every race provided there is enough space in the paddock. If there are fewer than 36 pit stalls at any given track, one or both of the BlackDiamond cars will not start the race, however this is not expected to be a problem at any of the current tracks.

Tom Delgado will miss at least the first three races of the season due to the heart attack he suffered in January. Azuma Kazeyama will drive in relief and will carry the #18. Delgado will still travel with the team, providing car and setup information. Delgado will also sit out the rounds of Michigan and Quebec due to back problems.

Schedule
For the second year in succession, there will be a 20 race calendar, opening at Las Vegas and concluding at Decatur.

Notable additions to the schedule are Wales (a date in which Welshmen Alan Hodges and Michael Sykes have lobbied extensively for), two rounds in Australia, and a return to France.

The races at Carbondale and Brazil return, despite speculation late in 2011 that they would be dropped from the calendar.

Also notable was the deletion of Daytona from the schedule, meaning that, aside from Indianapolis, none of the ovals the Master Cup visits this season are over 1.5 miles (2.414 km) in length.


 * The blue boxes represent a road/street course race.

Points System
The TM Master Cup Series point system remains the same as last year's.


 * 5 bonus points goes to the race's polesitter
 * 5 bonus points goes to the driver who leads the most laps in the race.
 * Points are doubled at Karjala and Indianapolis.