The 2012 Phillip Island Superbike World Championship round was the first round of the 2012 Superbike World Championship season and of the 2012 Supersport World Championship season. It took place over the weekend of 24–26 February 2012 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit near Cowes, Victoria, Australia.
Superbike Crescent Suzuki's John Hopkins and Team Pedercini's Leandro Mercado, both injured, were replaced by Josh Brookes and Bryan Staring.
During Saturday sessions, a crash in the domestic Supersport race killed Oscar McIntyre, 17, and the circuit was closed for investigation following the fatal crash. The incident forced officials to call off Superpole qualifying, as the investigation curtailed all events at the circuit for the day. The starting grid for both races was then established from the two qualifying sessions.
Max Biaggi won the first race with 7.104 secs advantage over Marco Melandri while Carlos Checa lost the rear tire when he was accelerating into the main straight of the circuit. In terms of top speed, both Biaggi and Melandri recorded the highest top speeds of 324.6 and 322.7 km/h respectively. Melandri's result represented the first ever second position for BMW at a superbike race. Phillip Island second race was full of drama when Biaggi went off the track and re-joined in the last position. He remounted all the way to finish second at just +5.707 secs from race winner Checa.
Race 1 classification Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Time Grid Points 1 3 Max Biaggi Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 34:13.963 2 25 2 33 Marco Melandri BMW S1000RR 22 +7.104 13 20 3 50 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1098R 22 +7.378 5 16 4 66 Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 +12.189 1 13 5 96 Jakub Smrž Ducati 1098R 22 +16.424 4 11 6 84 Michel Fabrizio BMW S1000RR 22 +20.200 10 10 7 65 Jonathan Rea Honda CBR1000RR 22 +20.223 8 9 8 4 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda CBR1000RR 22 +24.108 16 8 9 34 Davide Giugliano Ducati 1098R 22 +28.072 14 7 10 67 Bryan Staring Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 +34.232 17 6 11 87 Lorenzo Zanetti Ducati 1098R 22 +34.450 20 5 12 91 Leon Haslam BMW S1000RR 22 +35.648 12 4 13 121 Maxime Berger Ducati 1098R 22 +36.392 9 3 14 44 David Salom Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 +41.500 18 2 15 17 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 +42.086 15 1 16 25 Josh Brookes Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 +42.605 21 17 2 Leon Camier Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 +43.366 6 18 18 Mark Aitchison BMW S1000RR 22 +45.225 22 19 20 David Johnson BMW S1000RR 22 +1:08.782 24 20 59 Niccolò Canepa Ducati 1098R 22 +1:10.440 7 Ret 58 Eugene Laverty Aprilia RSV4 Factory 19 Retirement 11 Ret 86 Ayrton Badovini BMW S1000RR 14 Retirement 19 Ret 7 Carlos Checa Ducati 1098R 5 Accident 3 Ret 35 Raffaele De Rosa Honda CBR1000RR 0 Retirement 23 DNS 19 Chaz Davies Aprilia RSV4 Factory Injured OFFICIAL SUPERBIKE RACE 1 REPORT
Race 2 classification Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Time Grid Points 1 7 Carlos Checa Ducati 1098R 22 34:26.728 3 25 2 3 Max Biaggi Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 +5.707 2 20 3 66 Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 +12.521 1 16 4 65 Jonathan Rea Honda CBR1000RR 22 +12.655 8 13 5 91 Leon Haslam BMW S1000RR 22 +18.179 12 11 6 33 Marco Melandri BMW S1000RR 22 +18.831 13 10 7 121 Maxime Berger Ducati 1098R 22 +18.939 9 9 8 58 Eugene Laverty Aprilia RSV4 Factory 22 +19.478 11 8 9 4 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda CBR1000RR 22 +19.554 16 7 10 59 Niccolò Canepa Ducati 1098R 22 +26.289 7 6 11 96 Jakub Smrž Ducati 1098R 22 +26.479 4 5 12 2 Leon Camier Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 +29.145 6 4 13 34 Davide Giugliano Ducati 1098R 22 +36.482 14 3 14 87 Lorenzo Zanetti Ducati 1098R 22 +38.113 20 2 15 25 Josh Brookes Suzuki GSX-R1000 22 +43.234 21 1 16 67 Bryan Staring Kawasaki ZX-10R 22 +43.526 17 17 35 Raffaele De Rosa Honda CBR1000RR 22 +53.929 23 Ret 86 Ayrton Badovini BMW S1000RR 11 Retirement 19 Ret 17 Joan Lascorz Kawasaki ZX-10R 10 Accident 15 Ret 50 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1098R 9 Retirement 5 Ret 44 David Salom Kawasaki ZX-10R 8 Retirement 18 Ret 84 Michel Fabrizio BMW S1000RR 4 Retirement 10 Ret 20 David Johnson BMW S1000RR 4 Retirement 24 Ret 18 Mark Aitchison BMW S1000RR 1 Accident 22 DNS 19 Chaz Davies Aprilia RSV4 Factory Injured OFFICIAL SUPERBIKE RACE 2 REPORT
Supersport Race classification Pos No. Rider Bike Laps Time Grid Points 1 54 Kenan Sofuoğlu Kawasaki ZX-6R 15 24:08.130 4 25 2 99 Fabien Foret Kawasaki ZX-6R 15 +0.078 5 20 3 23 Broc Parkes Honda CBR600RR 15 +2.038 1 16 4 16 Jules Cluzel Honda CBR600RR 15 +2.113 3 13 5 11 Sam Lowes Honda CBR600RR 15 +4.955 2 11 6 32 Sheridan Morais Kawasaki ZX-6R 15 +6.812 6 10 7 34 Ronan Quarmby Honda CBR600RR 15 +11.592 13 9 8 25 Alex Baldolini Triumph Daytona 675 15 +16.761 7 8 9 31 Vittorio Iannuzzo Triumph Daytona 675 15 +18.098 14 7 10 52 Lukáš Pešek Honda CBR600RR 15 +18.425 12 6 11 3 Jed Metcher Yamaha YZF-R6 15 +19.227 17 5 12 64 Joshua Day Kawasaki ZX-6R 15 +24.412 19 4 13 87 Luca Marconi Yamaha YZF-R6 15 +28.808 23 3 14 20 Mathew Scholtz Honda CBR600RR 15 +28.915 15 2 15 61 Fabio Menghi Yamaha YZF-R6 15 +29.128 18 1 16 8 Andrea Antonelli Honda CBR600RR 15 +31.719 24 17 40 Martin Jessopp Honda CBR600RR 15 +36.812 22 18 10 Imre Tóth Honda CBR600RR 15 +40.102 20 19 98 Romain Lanusse Kawasaki ZX-6R 15 +40.788 26 20 13 Dino Lombardi Yamaha YZF-R6 15 +44.040 25 21 38 Balázs Németh Honda CBR600RR 15 +48.573 8 22 33 Yves Polzer Yamaha YZF-R6 15 +1:05.387 27 23 27 Thomas Caiani Honda CBR600RR 15 +1:20.489 28 Ret 69 Ondřej Ježek Honda CBR600RR 12 Retirement 16 Ret 22 Roberto Tamburini Honda CBR600RR 7 Retirement 9 Ret 55 Massimo Roccoli Yamaha YZF-R6 3 Retirement 11 Ret 19 Paweł Szkopek Honda CBR600RR 0 Retirement 10 Ret 65 Vladimir Leonov Yamaha YZF-R6 0 Retirement 21 OFFICIAL SUPERSPORT RACE REPORT
References
External links The official website of the Superbike World Championship