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Motorcycle racing is unpredictable, just ask Dani Pedrosa who was trying to keep the MotoGP championship going until the final round and make rival Jorge Lorenzo work for it, instead the Repsol Honda rider put his wheels outside the racing line at the Honda Hairpin (a strange twist of fate) during the second lap and crashed out of the Phillip Island race at the start of the second lap, handing the 2012 MotoGP championship crown to Jorge Lorenzo.
53,100 fans (the highest ever Sunday attendance) showed up to watch and say good-by to home boy Casey Stoner who desparately wanted to win in his final MotoGP appearance at the Island before he retires, and he ran away with the victory - his 45th of his career - and celebrated his sixth consecutive win on the Australian circuit who named turn 3 after him, making de facto Phillip Island, Stoner’s Island.
With Pedrosa out of the running Jorge Lorenzo went into cruise control and finished second (he has never finished lower in the entire season) and more than nine seconds behind, but he didn’t have to do more to take his second MotoGP title today as Stoner was clearly unbeatable. Early in the race a sickly Cal Crutchlow out raced his team mate Andrea Dovizioso and the Honda satellite riders Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, to take the third spot on the podium.
A highly entertaining battle for fourth lasted for the entire race distance between Dovizioso, Bautista and Bradl which the Italian won on the final lap. In the very uncompetitive sturggling Ducati challenge, Valentino Rossi took 7th ahead of Nicky Hayden and Karel Abraham who kept the two factory riders busy for the first part of the race before he began to fade.
Aleix Espargaro beat his Aspar team mate Randy de Puniet to the finish line by 0.043s to take 10th after the French rider had qualified 9th.
Despite the glorious sunny weather only 15 riders finished the race, Hector Barbera, Danilo Petrucci, Michele Pirro and Ivan Silva all got points.
Kris McLaren who replace injured Yonny Hernandez, didn’t start the race after missing the 107% cut off.
After three intense back to back flyaway rounds, the final round of the season will be at Valencia in two weeks time (November 9th to 11th).
MotoGP Phillip Island Race Results:
01- Casey Stoner – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 27 laps in 41’01.324
02- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 9.223
03- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 14.570
04- Andrea Dovizioso – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 23.303
05- Alvaro Bautista – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 23.432
06- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 23.467
07- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 37.113
08- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 38.387
09- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 52.613
10- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 1’00.299
11- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 1’00.342
02- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 9.223
03- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 14.570
04- Andrea Dovizioso – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 23.303
05- Alvaro Bautista – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 23.432
06- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 23.467
07- Valentino Rossi – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 37.113
08- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 38.387
09- Karel Abraham – Cardion AB Motoracing – Ducati Desmosedici GP12 – + 52.613
10- Aleix Espargaro – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 1’00.299
11- Randy De Puniet – Power Electronics Aspar – ART GP12 – + 1’00.342
