2012 Moto3 World Championship

The 2012 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 64th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. It was the inaugural season of Moto3.

Season summary

The inaugural Moto3 world championship title went to German rider Sandro Cortese, following his fourth victory of the season at the Malaysian Grand Prix,^[1] which gave him an unassailable points lead over his two title rivals Luis Salom and Maverick Viñales in the championship race.^[2] Cortese also became the first rider to win any Grand Prix title for the Austrian manufacturer KTM.^[3] KTM also won the constructors' championship at the Australian Grand Prix, doing so after Cortese won the race.

Class changes

The 2012 season also saw the introduction of four-stroke bikes in the new Moto3 class.^[4]

Calendar

The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2012:^[5][6]

The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme released an 17-race provisional calendar on 14 September 2011.^[7] Another provisional calendar was released three months later, with the Qatar Grand Prix moved forward by a week.^[8]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	8 April ‡	Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar	Losail International Circuit, Lusail
2	29 April	Gran Premio bwin de España	Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera
3	6 May	Grande Prémio de Portugal	Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril
4	20 May	Monster Energy Grand Prix de France	Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans
5	3 June	Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló
6	17 June	Hertz British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
7	30 June ††	Iveco TT Assen	TT Circuit Assen, Assen
8	8 July	eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland	Sachsenring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal
9	15 July	Gran Premio d'Italia TIM	Mugello Circuit, Scarperia e San Piero
10	19 August	Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway
11	26 August	bwin Grand Prix České republiky	Brno Circuit, Brno
12	16 September	Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e Della Riviera di Rimini	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico
13	30 September	Gran Premio Iveco de Aragón	MotorLand Aragón, Alcañiz
14	14 October	AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi
15	21 October	Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang
16	28 October	AirAsia Australian Grand Prix	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island
17	11 November	Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana	Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia

‡ = Night race

†† = Saturday race

Calendar changes

• The Czech Republic and Indianapolis Grand Prix swapped places.

Teams and riders

• A provisional entry list was released by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme on 13 January 2012.^[9] All teams used Dunlop tyres.

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Ioda Team Italia IodaRacing Project[10] Ioda[9] Ioda TR002 3 Luigi Morciano[9] 1–13, 17 80 Armando Pontone[11] 3, 10–17 94 Jonas Folger[12] 1, 4–9 Team Italia FMI[10] FTR Honda[13] FTR M312 5 Romano Fenati[9] All 19 Alessandro Tonucci[9] All TT Motion Events Racing[10] KTM[9] KTM RC250GP 6 Joan Olivé[11] 3, 11 31 Niklas Ajo[9] 1–2, 4–10, 12–17 JHK T-shirt Laglisse JHK Laglisse[14] Honda[14] Honda NSF250R 7 Efrén Vázquez[14] 1 26 Adrián Martín[15] 1 FTR Honda[16] FTR M312 7 Efrén Vázquez[14] 2–17 26 Adrián Martín[15] 2–17 Caretta Technology[10] Honda[9] Honda NSF250R 8 Jack Miller[9] 1–2, 4–10, 12–17 10 Alexis Masbou[9] 1–11 71 Michael Ruben Rinaldi 11–12 73 Manuel Tatasciore[11] 3 KRP Honda[17] KRP M3-01 17 John McPhee[18] 13–17 Cresto Guide MZ Racing[10] MZ Racing MZ-RE Honda[9] MZ Moto3 9 Toni Finsterbusch[13] 1 MZ FTR[19] FTR M312 2 Honda[20] Honda NSF250R 3–4, 6–11 Racing Team Germany[10] Honda Honda NSF250R 9 Toni Finsterbusch[21] 12–17 FTR Honda[13] FTR M312 96 Louis Rossi[9] All Red Bull KTM Ajo[10] KTM[22] KTM RC250GP 11 Sandro Cortese[23] All 52 Danny Kent[24] All 61 Arthur Sissis[24] All AirAsia-SIC-Ajo[10] 63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin[9] All Ambrogio Next Racing[25] Suter Honda[26] Suter MMX3 12 Álex Márquez[27] 10–17 15 Simone Grotzkyj[25] 4–9 30 Giulian Pedone[28] 4–17 Oral[28] Oral M3 15 Simone Grotzkyj[25] 1–3 30 Giulian Pedone[28] 2–3 Estrella Galicia 0,0[10] Suter Honda[9] Suter MMX3 12 Álex Márquez[19] 2–3, 5 42 Álex Rins[29] All 44 Miguel Oliveira[29] All Racing Steps Foundation KRP KRP Honda KRP M3-01 17 John McPhee[30] 5–6, 11 79 Fraser Rogers[31] 6 Mahindra Racing[10] Mahindra[32] Mahindra MGP3O 20 Riccardo Moretti[33] 9–11, 14–16 77 Marcel Schrötter[34] 1–8 95 Miroslav Popov 11–13, 17 99 Danny Webb[34] 1–10, 12–17 Andalucia JHK Laglisse[13] FTR Honda[13] FTR M312 21 Iván Moreno[13] 1–9 23 Alberto Moncayo[27] 10–16 55 Héctor Faubel[35] 17 Dutch Racing Team Honda Honda NSF250R 22 Bryan Schouten[36] 7 Bankia Aspar Team[10] Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3[37] Kalex KTM[38] Kalex KTM 23 Alberto Moncayo[38] 1–9 29 Luca Amato[39] 13–17 55 Héctor Faubel[38] 1–12 94 Jonas Folger[27] 10–17 Blusens Avintia[40][10] FTR Honda[9] FTR M312 25 Maverick Viñales[41] All San Carlo Gresini Moto3[10] Honda[42] Honda NSF250R 27 Niccolò Antonelli[42] 1 FTR Honda[19] FTR M312 2–17 Wild Wolf BST FTR Honda FTR M312 28 Josep Rodríguez[19] 2 58 Juan Francisco Guevara[18] 13, 17 Ongetta-Centro Seta[10] Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda[13] FTR M312 28 Josep Rodríguez[21] 12 32 Isaac Viñales[43] 1–11, 13–17 84 Jakub Kornfeil[9] All Moto FGR[10] FGR Honda[9] FGR 250 GP 28 Josep Rodríguez[44] 14–17 53 Jasper Iwema[45] 1–13 Team Imperiali Racing Honda Honda NSF250R 33 Stefano Valtulini[21] 12 Fastline GP Racing Honda Honda NSF250R 36 Sam Clarke[46] 16 RW Racing GP[10] Kalex KTM[47] Kalex KTM 39 Luis Salom[47] All 41 Brad Binder[47] All MIR Racing Honda MIR Racing Moto3 40 Julián Miralles[36] 7 Freudenberg Racing Team Honda Honda NSF250R 43 Luca Grünwald[37] 8, 11 Bradol Larresport Honda Honda NSF250R 49 Jorge Navarro[18] 13 Technomag-CIP-TSR[10] TSR Honda[9] TSR TSR3 51 Kenta Fujii[48] All 89 Alan Techer[49] All HP Moto Kalex Kalex KTM Kalex KTM 65 Philipp Öttl[35] 17 Racing Team Gabrielli Honda Honda NSF250R 71 Michael Ruben Rinaldi[33] 9 Elle 2 Ciatti Honda Honda NSF250R 74 Kevin Calia[33] 9, 12 K1 Racing Honda Honda NSF250R 75 Lincoln Gilding[46] 16 Project μ 7C Harc Honda Honda NSF250R 81 Hyuga Watanabe[44] 14 18 Garage Racing Team Honda Honda NSF250R 82 Yuudai Kamei[44] 14 Thomas Sabo GP Team Honda Honda NSF250R 86 Kevin Hanus[19] 3–4, 8

Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Winning constructor	Report
1	Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix[50]	Sandro Cortese	Maverick Viñales	Maverick Viñales	Blusens Avintia	FTR Honda	Report
2	Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix[51]	Álex Rins	Romano Fenati	Romano Fenati	Team Italia FMI	FTR Honda	Report
3	Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix[7]	Sandro Cortese	Sandro Cortese	Sandro Cortese	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
4	French motorcycle Grand Prix[52]	Maverick Viñales	Jakub Kornfeil	Louis Rossi	Racing Team Germany	FTR Honda	Report
5	Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix[53]	Maverick Viñales	Álex Márquez	Maverick Viñales	Blusens Avintia	FTR Honda	Report
6	British motorcycle Grand Prix[54]	Maverick Viñales	Sandro Cortese	Maverick Viñales	Blusens Avintia	FTR Honda	Report
7	Dutch TT[55]	Sandro Cortese	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	Maverick Viñales	Blusens Avintia	FTR Honda	Report
8	German motorcycle Grand Prix[7]	Sandro Cortese	Sandro Cortese	Sandro Cortese	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
9	Italian motorcycle Grand Prix[56]	Maverick Viñales	Sandro Cortese	Maverick Viñales	Blusens Avintia	FTR Honda	Report
10	Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix[57]	Sandro Cortese	Romano Fenati	Luis Salom	RW Racing GP	Kalex KTM	Report
11	Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix[58]	Maverick Viñales	Luis Salom	Jonas Folger	Maphre Aspar Team Moto3	Kalex KTM	Report
12	San Marino and Rimini Riviera motorcycle Grand Prix[59]	Sandro Cortese	Álex Rins	Sandro Cortese	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
13	Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix[60]	Jonas Folger	Danny Kent	Luis Salom	RW Racing GP	Kalex KTM	Report
14	Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix[61]	Danny Kent	Alessandro Tonucci	Danny Kent	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
15	Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix[62]	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	Sandro Cortese	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
16	Australian motorcycle Grand Prix[63]	Sandro Cortese	Alessandro Tonucci	Sandro Cortese	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
17	Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix[64]	Jonas Folger	Zulfahmi Khairuddin	Danny Kent	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report

Riders' standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.

Pos Rider Bike QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED GER ITA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL Pts 1 Sandro Cortese KTM 3 3 1 6 2 3 2 1 3 2 3 1 2 6 1 1 2 325 2 Luis Salom Kalex KTM 4 2 3 Ret 10 2 4 3 Ret 1 2 2 1 Ret 4 15 10 214 3 Maverick Viñales FTR Honda 1 6 2 Ret 1 1 1 17 1 Ret 4 5 DNS 2 WD Ret 8 207 4 Danny Kent KTM 8 Ret 8 Ret 20 6 3 Ret 5 12 7 12 4 1 6 5 1 154 5 Álex Rins Suter Honda 10 4 7 3 Ret Ret 6 20 7 7 5 4 6 4 7 4 16 141 6 Romano Fenati FTR Honda 2 1 Ret Ret 9 7 12 24 2 5 8 3 Ret 10 20 6 18 136 7 Zulfahmi Khairuddin KTM 6 10 4 Ret 8 9 11 6 9 6 Ret 11 Ret 5 2 Ret 3 128 8 Miguel Oliveira Suter Honda 5 Ret Ret Ret 3 10 10 19 Ret 4 9 9 8 7 5 2 Ret 114 9 Jonas Folger Ioda Ret WD 11 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 93 Kalex KTM 3 1 6 3 Ret 3 11 Ret 10 Efrén Vázquez Honda 16 93 FTR Honda Ret 5 Ret Ret 5 9 5 6 Ret 25 7 5 9 8 8 Ret 11 Louis Rossi FTR Honda 9 Ret Ret 1 4 Ret 5 Ret Ret 13 17 Ret 7 8 Ret 20 6 86 12 Arthur Sissis KTM 7 Ret 13 5 22 8 16 9 Ret 11 14 10 9 11 11 3 19 84 13 Alexis Masbou Honda Ret 5 9 Ret 5 4 7 2 12 10 16 81 14 Niccolò Antonelli Honda 17 77 FTR Honda 8 6 4 12 13 Ret 12 4 Ret 23 8 10 12 15 DNS 13 15 Jakub Kornfeil FTR Honda 15 Ret 10 Ret 11 11 13 10 8 8 6 15 11 15 16 13 7 71 16 Héctor Faubel Kalex KTM 12 9 12 Ret 7 12 15 7 10 DNS 11 13 63 FTR Honda 5 17 Alberto Moncayo Kalex KTM 14 7 14 2 14 15 19 Ret Ret 52 FTR Honda 9 12 14 13 Ret 18 17 18 Alessandro Tonucci FTR Honda Ret 11 18 14 28 16 22 16 16 15 10 17 12 3 17 7 14 45 19 Niklas Ajo KTM 13 Ret EX 15 21 14 8 14 11 DSQ EX Ret 14 13 9 Ret 9 40 20 Álex Márquez Suter Honda 12 15 6 Ret 21 Ret 15 14 14 9 Ret 27 21 Brad Binder Kalex KTM Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 17 20 Ret 24 Ret 20 16 16 Ret 12 14 4 24 22 Alan Techer TSR Honda 11 14 17 8 13 21 17 13 17 Ret DNS Ret 21 20 21 16 21 21 23 Jack Miller Honda 25 Ret Ret 15 Ret DSQ 4 21 DNS Ret 19 19 13 21 Ret 17 24 Adrián Martín Honda 20 16 FTR Honda Ret Ret Ret 17 Ret 18 Ret 13 Ret 13 DNS Ret 17 10 12 Ret 25 Iván Moreno FTR Honda 19 13 20 9 18 22 29 25 26 10 26 Jasper Iwema FGR Honda 24 17 Ret 7 16 18 24 Ret Ret Ret 24 Ret Ret 9 27 Luca Grünwald Honda 8 19 8 28 Isaac Viñales FTR Honda Ret Ret Ret Ret 24 23 21 21 19 14 DNS 17 23 19 10 20 8 29 Giulian Pedone Oral 15 NC 7 Suter Honda 10 27 27 Ret 27 23 17 22 Ret 23 25 26 23 17 30 Toni Finsterbusch MZ-RE Honda 23 7 MZ FTR Ret Honda 21 DNS 19 14 11 18 16 Ret 18 18 Ret 23 Ret Ret 31 Philipp Öttl Kalex KTM 11 5 32 Juan Francisco Guevara FTR Honda 24 12 4 33 Marcel Schrötter Mahindra Ret 16 19 12 Ret 26 Ret Ret 4 34 Kevin Hanus Honda 25 13 26 3 35 Kevin Calia Honda 14 Ret 2 36 Josep Rodríguez FTR Honda Ret 23 1 FGR Honda 24 25 DNS 15 37 John McPhee KRP Honda 19 28 15 22 21 22 19 Ret 1 38 Michael Ruben Rinaldi Honda 15 Ret 20 1 39 Simone Grotzkyj Oral 22 Ret WD 1 Suter Honda Ret 23 20 23 15 22 Hyuga Watanabe Honda 16 0 Joan Olivé KTM 16 18 0 Kenta Fujii TSR Honda 21 Ret 23 Ret 25 24 27 23 25 18 26 22 26 18 27 22 23 0 Danny Webb Mahindra 18 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 18 20 DNS Ret 25 26 Ret DNS Ret 0 Armando Pontone Ioda NC 19 28 Ret 27 DNS 28 18 24 0 Miroslav Popov Mahindra Ret 19 Ret Ret 0 Luca Amato Kalex KTM 20 22 24 Ret 22 0 Riccardo Moretti Mahindra Ret 20 DNS DNS Ret Ret 0 Luigi Morciano Ioda Ret Ret 24 Ret 26 25 28 22 27 Ret 27 21 DNS Ret 0 Manuel Tatasciore Honda 22 0 Lincoln Gilding Honda 24 0 Stefano Valtulini Honda 24 0 Sam Clarke Honda 25 0 Bryan Schouten Honda 25 0 Julián Miralles Honda 26 0 Yuudai Kamei Honda 27 0 Jorge Navarro Honda Ret 0 Fraser Rogers KRP Honda Ret 0 Pos Rider Bike QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED GER ITA INP CZE RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS VAL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap Light blue – Rookie

Constructors' standings

Each constructor received the same number of points as their best placed rider in each race.

Pos	Constructor	QAT	SPA	POR	FRA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	INP	CZE	RSM	ARA	JPN	MAL	AUS	VAL	Pts
1	KTM	3	3	1	5	2	3	2	1	3	2	3	1	2	1	1	1	1	346
2	FTR Honda	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	5	1	5	4	3	5	2	8	6	5	306
3	Kalex KTM	4	2	3	2	7	2	4	3	10	1	1	2	1	22	3	11	4	262
4	Suter Honda	5	4	7	3	3	10	6	15	7	4	5	4	6	4	5	2	16	182
5	Honda	16	5	9	13	5	4	7	2	12	10	16	18	18	16	13	21	Ret	87
6	TSR Honda	11	14	17	8	13	21	17	13	17	18	26	22	21	18	21	16	21	21
7	FGR Honda	24	17	Ret	7	16	18	24	Ret	Ret	Ret	24	Ret	Ret	24	25	DNS	15	10
8	Ioda	Ret	Ret	24	11	26	25	28	22	27	19	27	21	27	Ret	28	18	24	5
9	Mahindra	18	16	19	12	Ret	26	Ret	18	20	20	Ret	19	25	26	Ret	Ret	Ret	4
10	KRP Honda					19	28					15		22	21	22	19	Ret	1
11	Oral	22	15	NC															1
	MZ-RE Honda	23																	0
	MZ FTR		Ret																0
Pos	Constructor	QAT	SPA	POR	FRA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	INP	CZE	RSM	ARA	JPN	MAL	AUS	VAL	Pts

References