2012 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix

The 2012 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventeenth and penultimate round of the 2012 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on the weekend of 2628 October 2012 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

  2012 Australian Grand Prix
Race details
Race 17 of 18 races in the
2012 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
Date28 October 2012
Official nameAirAsia Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix[1][2][3]
LocationPhillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
Course
  • Permanent racing facility
  • 4.448 km (2.764 mi)
MotoGP
Pole position
Rider Casey Stoner Honda
Time 1:29.623
Fastest lap
Rider Casey Stoner Honda
Time 1:30.191
Podium
First Casey Stoner Honda
Second Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha
Third Cal Crutchlow Yamaha
Moto2
Pole position
Rider Pol Espargaró Kalex
Time 1:33.705
Fastest lap
Rider Pol Espargaró Kalex
Time 1:33.729
Podium
First Pol Espargaró Kalex
Second Marc Márquez Suter
Third Scott Redding Kalex
Moto3
Pole position
Rider Sandro Cortese KTM
Time 1:38.334
Fastest lap
Rider Alessandro Tonucci FTR Honda
Time 1:38.447
Podium
First Sandro Cortese KTM
Second Miguel Oliveira Suter Honda
Third Arthur Sissis KTM

MotoGP race report

This race was most notable for the last victory of Casey Stoner before he chose to retire, as well as his final win on home soil.

Jorge Lorenzo leads the standings with 330 points, followed by Dani Pedrosa with 307 and Casey Stoner with 213 points. Pedrosa has a 23 point deficit to Lorenzo, and if he scores three or more points in this race, he will be crowned the 2012 MotoGP world champion. Australian Kris McLaren was not able to qualify for the race in his Avintia Bluesens, therefor he did not start the race.[4]

Home hero Casey Stoner took pole on Saturday with a time of 1:29.623. Second is Jorge Lorenzo and third is Dani Pedrosa. The second row of the grid consists out of Cal Crutchlow, Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso.[5][6]

All the riders do their usual warm-up lap, then line up on their respective grid slots. As the lights go out, Lorenzo and Pedrosa manage to pass Stoner who gets demoted to third as the pack goes into Doohan Corner (Turn 1) on the opening lap.[4][7] Behind the trio, Crutchlow has not gained or lost any positions, Dovizioso took one place while Bradl lost one to the Italian. Going into the Honda Corner (Turn 4), Dani Pedrosa lunges down the inside of Lorenzo to take over the lead. The top three already has pulled a significant gap to Crutchlow by now.

Lap two starts and Stoner manages to get a great drive out of Turn 12 to go side-by-side with Lorenzo on the straight. He manages to get past going into Doohan Corner, promoting him to second.[4][7] As the trio goes into the Honda Hairpin, Pedrosa loses the front of his bike and slides out of the lead, as well as the title upon acceleration.[4][7] A confused and defeated Pedrosa tries to rejoin the race, but to no avail as he is dead last and a long way back to his title rival. The Yamaha pit box rushes to put on the message 'PEDROSA OUT' on the pit board.

As lap three begins, the gap Stoner has to Lorenzo has increased, as did the gap Lorenzo has to now third place Crutchlow. Pedrosa comes into the pits to officially retire from the race.

Lap four and Stoner now sets the fastest lap of the race. Behind the duo meanwhile a battle for third emerges, consisting out of Crutchlow, Dovizioso, Bautista and Bradl.[4]

Exiting Turn 12, Stoner has a big wobble before he starts lap five. The group of four behind Lorenzo are still bunched up but no one has made a move so far.

On lap six, the gap Stoner has to Lorenzo is +1.750 seconds. The group of four who was fighting for third has spread out a bit by now.

Lap seven and the gap Stoner has to Lorenzo has increased to +1.983 seconds. James Ellison in the back crashed out of the race - rider is okay.

On lap eight, no overtakes happened in the top six positions. The gaps are stable for now.

Lap nine and the gap Stoner has to Lorenzo has increased even more - it is now +3.038 seconds. Third place Crutchlow has also opened up a gap to his Tech 3 teammate Dovizioso and it's now +1.050 seconds. Backmarker Colin Edwards has also retired from the race due to technical problems.

On lap ten, the gap Stoner has to Lorenzo is more or less stable and sits at around +3.074 seconds. In sector one, the gap has decreased slightly to +2.996. Dovizioso and Bautista meanwhile are also fighting for fourth, the Spaniard shadowing Dovizioso to find a gap. In sector two, the gap has increased again to +3.224 seconds. In sector three, the gap increases slightly once more to +3.283 seconds.

As Stoner crosses the line to start lap eleven, the gap he has to Lorenzo is more or less stable with +3.328 seconds. Further back, Bautista is still harassing Dovizioso and even further back Karel Abraham is sandwitched between the Factory Ducati pair of Valentino Rossi in seventh and Nicky Hayden in ninth.

On lap twelve, Bautista finally makes his move at the Honda Corner, lunging down the inside of Dovizioso and snatching away fourth. This has allowed Bradl - who was a bit further back, to immediately close the gap and join the battle.[4]

Lap thirteen and Bradl also makes his move on Dovizioso, going up his inside at the fast Southern Loop (Turn 2) for fifth position.[4]

As the midfield trio of Bautista, Bradl and Dovizioso cross the line to begin lap fourteen - the halfway point of the race - the German uses his superior exit of Turn 12 to go alongside Bautista and move up into fourth before Doohan Corner. Dovizioso uses the situation to sneak up on Bautista at the Southern Loop by going up his inside and retaking fifth. However, the Italian goes slightly wide, allowing Bautista to retake the place. At the Honda Corner, Dovizioso tries again - this time successfully taking the place after he went up the inside of Bautista's San Carlo Gresini Honda. The gap Stoner has to Lorenzo meanwhile has increased to +4.127 seconds.

On lap fifteen, the gap has decreased somewhat to +3.992 seconds. In sector 1, the gap increases to +4.133 seconds.

Lap sixteen and the midfield runners are still relatively close to each other, with Bautista right behind Dovizioso who himself is a bit further back to Bradl. Dani Pedrosa is now giving an interview for the Spanish television about what exactly happened.

On lap seventeen, the gap Stoner has to Lorenzo has increased again and is now +4.767 seconds. Further back, the trio of Bradl, Dovizioso and Bautista are closing up again and even further back, Hayden passed Abraham for eighth place and is now behind his teammate Rossi.

Lap eighteen and the top three is still very much stable, consisting out of Stoner, Lorenzo and Crutchlow.

On lap nineteen, the trio of Bradl, Dovizioso and Bautista are still relatively close but no one has made a move so far.

Going into lap twenty, Bautista is very close to Dovizioso and looks to make a move, but stays back for the time being. As they both go into Doohan Corner, Dovizioso runs slightly wide, causing Bautista to run wide as well.

As lap twenty-one starts, Roberto Rolfo has retired from the race with technical problems as he is seen pushing his bike on the grass with the marshalls surrounding him. Bautista looks up the inside of Dovizioso at the start/finish straight but does not make the move going into Doohan corner. Further back, Aleix Espargaró has overtaken his Aspar teammate Randy de Puniet for tenth position after the Frenchman went wide at the Honda Corner.

On lap twenty-two, Bautista managed to pass Dovizioso before the start/finish straight but the Italian dived down the inside at the Doohan corner and retakes fifth place as a result. Bradl starts to struggle a bit now and the two behind him close the small gap, with Bautista harassing Dovizioso all throughout the lap.

Lap twenty-three and Dovizioso has passed Bradl for fourth. Backmarker Iván Silva lets Lorenzo past without any problems as the midfield trio of Dovizioso, Bradl and Bautista are still close to each other and fighting for positions.[4]

On lap twenty-four, Bautista takes fifth place by going down the inside of Bradl - who was taking a wider line - at Honda Corner.[4]

Lap twenty-five and Dovizioso and Bautista have pulled a slight gap to the now struggling Bradl. He shadows the Italian but so far refrains from making any moves.

On lap twenty-six, the penultimate lap, Stoner passes backmarker Michele Pirro midway through Doohan Corner without any problems. Further behind, Bradl has closed up the small gap to Bautista again and even further back, Hayden starts to put some pressure on Rossi for seventh position. Bautista has now taken fourth from Dovizioso, with Bradl doing likewise after he dives down the inside of the Tech 3 rider at Turn 10. Dovizioso has lost two places in one lap

The final lap - lap twenty-seven - begins and Dovizioso uses his good acceleration to pass Bradl on the start/finish straight, then makes a late lunge up on the inside of Bautista to take fourth place back. Exiting the Southern Loop, Bautista's knee hit a bit of dirt on the edge of the circuit, causing him to wobble slightly. Stoner meanwhile has no problems as he calmly crosses the line to win the race - his final win of his career, as well as his sixth and final win on home soil. Lorenzo does a big wheelie as he crosses the finish line to come home in second place, making him the 2012 MotoGP world champion. A happy Crutchlow comes home third to take his second podium of the season and the trio behind him still fight for positions, Dovizioso pulling enough of a gap to come home in a respectable fourth place. Bradl tries to attack Bautista on the last corner but isn't able to, meaning that Bautista finishes in fifth and Bradl in sixth place. The Factory Yamaha pit box meanwhile rejoices as they celebrate Lorenzo's title. Rossi finishes a distant seventh and Hayden eighth. [4][7]

Race winner Casey Stoner, celebrating his last MotoGP win with the Australian flag.

During the parade lap on the way back to parc fermé, one of the Yamaha crewmembers congratulates Lorenzo with him holding a Spanish flag. Lorenzo puts his arms up in the air in jubilation as the crewmembers puts the flag behind his back. Doohan also has his own Australian flag, waving it for all the majority Australian crowd to see. He also waves at the fans as Lorenzo now holds the Spanish flag and punches the air in a joyful manner. The fans now start to invade the track as Crutchlow also rides back to parc fermé, the fans congratulating him also.

Stoner is the first one to arrive at parc fermé, being congratulated by one of his Repsol Honda crewmembers. Lorenzo is the second to arrive, doing a burnout to celebrate his second MotoGP world championship title. Some of his crewmembers hug him after he's done, the Spaniard still celebrating whilst on the bike. He then goes to his crew at the fence to celebrate with them. Crutchlow meanwhile has also arrived and is talking to his own crewmembers about the race result. Espargaró and Stoner both shake hands with the new world champion, the latter also hugging him. Lorenzo then gets interviewed by the Spanish television before posing with his team once more for the press.

The trio make their way up to the podium but before that, Stoner has an intimate moment with his wife Adriana Tuchyna and his first child Alessandra Maria in the box. The trio then make their way onto the podium, beginning with Crutchlow, then Lorenzo and then - under a loud applause and many cheers from the crowd - Stoner. The trio stand on their respective podium places as the trophies get handed out, the crowd cheering loudly once more as Stoner receives his winners trophy.

The Australian national anthem plays and once it stops, Lorenzo steps off the podium, much to the confusion of the other tro riders. The respective figures still hand out the champagne to Crutchlow and Stoner and the duo start spraying each other. Lorenzo meanwhile, holding the bottle in his hand, went down to celebrate with his team as he sprays them with the champagne instead. Stoner shakes hands with Crutchlow after the champagne shower has finished, then gets off the podium also. Crutchlow - the only one still on the podium - hands his team below the bottle, then takes his helmet, drink and trophy to move it somewhere else. Lorenzo and Stoner return to the podium, the Australian throwing his kneesliders in the audience as a gift. The trio then step onto the podium for the last time for the press photo's.[8]

Stoner's win, Lorenzo's second place and Pedrosa's retirement change the standings once more. Lorenzo now has 350 points, an unassailable lead by now, with Pedrosa second with 307 points - a 43 point deficit - and Stoner third with 238 points, which is a deficit of 112 points.

Moto2 race report

Marc Márquez won the Moto2 title by finishing third in his race behind winner and championship rival Pol Espargaró and the second placed Anthony West (who would eventually be removed from the results in November 2013 promoting Marquez to 2nd place[9]).

Moto3 race report

Sandro Cortese won the race, ahead of Miguel Oliveira and Australian Arthur Sissis. This meant that all three riders' titles had been decided with Cortese having secured his title the previous round in Malaysia.

Classification

MotoGP

Pos. No. Rider Team Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda 27 41:01.324 1 25
2 99 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 27 +9.223 2 20
3 35 Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 27 +14.570 4 16
4 4 Andrea Dovizioso Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 27 +23.303 6 13
5 19 Álvaro Bautista San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 27 +23.432 7 11
6 6 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 27 +23.467 5 10
7 46 Valentino Rossi Ducati Team Ducati 27 +37.113 8 9
8 69 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team Ducati 27 +38.387 10 8
9 17 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 27 +52.613 11 7
10 41 Aleix Espargaró Power Electronics Aspar ART 27 +1:00.299 12 6
11 14 Randy De Puniet Power Electronics Aspar ART 27 +1:00.342 9 5
12 8 Héctor Barberá Pramac Racing Team Ducati 27 +1:21.951 13 4
13 9 Danilo Petrucci Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 27 +1:27.857 15 3
14 51 Michele Pirro San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 26 +1 lap 14 2
15 22 Iván Silva Avintia Blusens BQR 26 +1 lap 19 1
Ret 84 Roberto Rolfo Speed Master ART 18 Retirement 18
Ret 5 Colin Edwards NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 6 Retirement 16
Ret 77 James Ellison Paul Bird Motorsport ART 5 Accident 17
Ret 26 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda 1 Retirement 3
DNQ 43 Kris McLaren Avintia Blusens BQR Did not qualify
Sources: [10][11][12]

Moto2

Pos No Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 40 Pol Espargaró Kalex 25 39:26.486 1 25
2 93 Marc Márquez Suter 25 +16.837 3 20
3 45 Scott Redding Kalex 25 +16.957 2 16
4 77 Dominique Aegerter Suter 25 +26.018 12 13
5 5 Johann Zarco Motobi 25 +26.028 7 11
6 3 Simone Corsi FTR 25 +26.091 11 10
7 80 Esteve Rabat Kalex 25 +26.372 10 9
8 4 Randy Krummenacher Kalex 25 +26.474 6 8
9 30 Takaaki Nakagami Kalex 25 +26.580 5 7
10 81 Jordi Torres Suter 25 +36.520 20 6
11 38 Bradley Smith Tech 3 25 +36.565 15 5
12 24 Toni Elías Kalex 25 +36.870 18 4
13 19 Xavier Siméon Tech 3 25 +38.220 16 3
14 63 Mike Di Meglio Kalex 25 +44.350 19 2
15 72 Yuki Takahashi FTR 25 +48.586 27 1
16 88 Ricard Cardús AJR 25 +48.763 21
17 18 Nicolás Terol Suter 25 +48.768 25
18 14 Ratthapark Wilairot Suter 25 +52.487 22
19 23 Marcel Schrötter Bimota 25 +52.569 24
20 8 Gino Rea Suter 25 +52.707 23
21 75 Tomoyoshi Koyama Suter 25 +1:12.087 28
22 22 Alessandro Andreozzi Speed Up 25 +1:21.455 26
23 82 Elena Rosell Speed Up 24 +1 lap 29
24 10 Marco Colandrea FTR 24 +1 lap 30
25 57 Eric Granado Motobi 23 +2 laps 31
DSQ 95 Anthony West Speed Up 25 (+16.811)[9] 9
Ret 36 Mika Kallio Kalex 23 Accident 14
Ret 49 Axel Pons Kalex 23 Accident 13
Ret 60 Julián Simón Suter 23 Retirement 17
Ret 12 Thomas Lüthi Suter 17 Retirement 4
Ret 29 Andrea Iannone Speed Up 4 Retirement 8
DNS 15 Alex De Angelis FTR
Source:[13]

Moto3

Pos No Rider Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 11 Sandro Cortese KTM 23 38:20.014 1 25
2 44 Miguel Oliveira Suter Honda 23 +2.108 6 20
3 61 Arthur Sissis KTM 23 +5.031 7 16
4 42 Álex Rins Suter Honda 23 +5.084 16 13
5 52 Danny Kent KTM 23 +5.107 4 11
6 5 Romano Fenati FTR Honda 23 +5.109 14 10
7 19 Alessandro Tonucci FTR Honda 23 +5.374 10 9
8 7 Efrén Vázquez FTR Honda 23 +5.894 3 8
9 12 Álex Márquez Suter Honda 23 +30.783 19 7
10 32 Isaac Viñales FTR Honda 23 +30.911 18 6
11 94 Jonas Folger Kalex KTM 23 +32.803 2 5
12 26 Adrián Martín FTR Honda 23 +33.302 17 4
13 84 Jakub Kornfeil FTR Honda 23 +33.479 13 3
14 41 Brad Binder Kalex KTM 23 +34.102 20 2
15 39 Luis Salom Kalex KTM 23 +43.749 9 1
16 89 Alan Techer TSR Honda 23 +43.827 24
17 23 Alberto Moncayo FTR Honda 23 +49.394 11
18 80 Armando Pontone Ioda 23 +1:06.551 21
19 17 John McPhee KRP Honda 23 +1:06.588 22
20 96 Louis Rossi FTR Honda 23 +1:08.801 12
21 8 Jack Miller Honda 23 +1:08.908 23
22 51 Kenta Fujii TSR Honda 23 +1:10.030 26
23 30 Giulian Pedone Suter Honda 23 +1:10.411 25
24 75 Lincoln Gilding Honda 23 +1:33.510 28
25 36 Sam Clarke Honda 22 +1 lap 31
Ret 63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin KTM 19 Accident 5
Ret 9 Toni Finsterbusch Honda 16 Retirement 30
Ret 25 Maverick Viñales FTR Honda 14 Retirement 8
Ret 31 Niklas Ajo KTM 11 Accident 15
Ret 29 Luca Amato Kalex KTM 8 Retirement 27
Ret 20 Riccardo Moretti Mahindra 1 Retirement 29
DNS 28 Josep Rodríguez FGR Honda
DNS 27 Niccolò Antonelli FTR Honda
DNS 99 Danny Webb Mahindra
Source:[14]

Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)

Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round seventeen has concluded.[15]

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References

  1. "2012 Australian MotoGP". Motorsportmagazine.com. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "2012 MotoGP Class (FIM Grand Prix World Championship) Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  3. Mitchell, Malcolm. "Phillip Island Circuit - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. "Stoner wins, Pedrosa falls, Lorenzo champion". Crash. 28 October 2012.
  5. "Fall then pole for Stoner in Australia". Crash. 27 October 2012.
  6. "Stoner takes pole in Australia" via www.bbc.com.
  7. "Lorenzo cruises to MotoGP title" via www.bbc.com.
  8. "2012 #AustralianGP | Vintage MotoGP". YouTube. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  9. "Doping – Decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the case of rider Anthony West" (PDF). v2-fim-live.com. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 28 November 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015. [...] all the sporting results obtained by Anthony West from 20 May 2012 up to the expiry of the period of ineligibility (i.e. 19 October 2013) will be invalidated.
  10. "2012 Australian MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine Database". Motorpsortmagazine.com. 4 July 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  11. "AIRASIA AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX · MotoGP Race Classification 2012". Motogp.com. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  12. "AirAsia Australian Grand Prix – MotoGP – Race" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 28 October 2012.
  13. "AirAsia Australian Grand Prix – Moto2 – Race" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 28 October 2012.
  14. "AirAsia Australian Grand Prix – Moto3 – Race" (PDF). MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 28 October 2012.
  15. "Standings" (PDF). resources.motogp.com. 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
Previous race:
2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
FIM Grand Prix World Championship
2012 season
Next race:
2012 Valencian Grand Prix
Previous race:
2011 Australian Grand Prix
Australian Grand Prix Next race:
2013 Australian Grand Prix
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