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
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 | Clermont, 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'
| 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 |