by Tracy Hagen

The 2012 MotoGP season came to a climax in Phillip Island with the defending and retiring MotoGP champion Casey Stoner taking his sixth consecutive win at the scenic sea-side circuit. It was Stoner’s first win after seriously injuring his right ankle at Indianapolis two months ago.

“My time is coming down now. It was very important for me to win a race before I retire. To do it at my home Grand Prix is just a fairy tale. This whole weekend has gone ideally.”

Finishing 9.223 seconds behind Stoner’s speedy Honda was Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo’s finish was more than enough to secure the 2012 MotoGP world championship, his second after winning it two years ago.

“I’m really, really happy with this championship. We know how difficult it is to fight with guys like Casey and Dani (Pedrosa).”

Third place went to a resurgent Cal Crutchlow and capped a difficult couple of weeks. Crutchlow ran out of gas two weeks ago in Motegi while contesting third place and then crashed at Sepang the following week in treacherous wet conditions. On arriving in Australia Crutchlow had to seek immediate medical attention for bronchitis and a high-fever. But on race day Crutchlow quickly settled in to a comfortable third place and did not need to spend his race fighting other riders.

“I’ve been suffering the last feew days with bronchitis and a high fever but I’ve more than made up for it and ran a good pace. I was happy to let Jorge go. I thought I could stay with him. Third place is better than putting it on through or taking out the world champion. I thought, ‘let’s not do that or I’ll be sacked!’”

Crutchlow’s teammate, Andrea Dovizioso, finished fourth after battling Honda riders Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl corner after corner, lap after lap. Dovizioso drafted the two Hondas on the front straight with one lap to go and then cut off the two challengers at every turn on the final lap.

The factory Ducatis came home together, led by Valentino Rossi. “The position was the best we could achieve. In the end I had to battle with Nicky (Hayden). It was a difficult season for me, and Ducati. We were not able to improve and achieved nothing.” For Rossi, the trip to Valencia is more about testing the 2013 Yamaha M1 than to race the Ducati GP12.

For Hayden, the proud holder of the race lap time record at Phillip Island from 2008, he was as disappointed as Rossi and does not see a light at the end of the tunnel. “It was a really hard race and hard weekend. I can never remember changing so much on a bike – wheelbase, pivot, offset, head angle, mapping – to try and get some grip and make the thing turn. Everything we tried was no better.”

Ducati satellite rider Karel Abraham finished ninth. Aleix Espargaro completed the top ten on the CRT superbike and is nearly certain to complete the season as the top rider in the CRT division.

The rider that most needed to win today finished dead last. Dani Pedrosa, the last rider with a mathematical chance of denying Lorenzo the championship, took over control of the race at the hairpin on the first lap. On the second lap Pedrosa ran deep into the hairpin and gave Stoner plenty of space to run up the inside. Pedrosa leaned over and lost control, the rear wheel sliding out and the Honda doing a full 360-degree spin on its right side before coming to a rest. Pedrosa praised his team and spoke of how proud he was of his season. He face looked otherwise.

Next race: Valencia, November 11.