The 2012 Superbike World Championship was the twenty-fifth season of the Superbike World Championship. It began on 26 February at Phillip Island and ended on 7 October in Magny-Cours after 14 rounds.

The season saw the number of complete motorcycles in use limited to one per rider; this meant that the rules allowing bike changes during a race (flag-to-flag) were cancelled.^[1][2]

Aprilia rider Max Biaggi clinched his second SBK championship, pipping Kawasaki rider Tom Sykes by just half a point. Marco Melandri won more races than both Biaggi and Sykes this season but failing to score points in 5 of the last 6 races cost him the title.

Race calendar and results

The provisional race schedule was publicly announced by the FIM on 24 September 2011 with thirteen confirmed rounds and two other rounds pending confirmation.^[3] Russia appeared for the first time in the calendar with a round at the brand-new Moscow Raceway.^[4] The calendar was updated in October 2011 with the confirmation of the Imola round, for a total fourteen rounds.^[5] All races with the exception of Miller Motorsports Park – races held on Memorial Day Monday – were held on Sundays.

Round		Country	Circuit	Date	Superpole	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Report
1	R1	Australia	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	26 February	Tom Sykes[N 1]	Max Biaggi	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Racing Team	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
2	R1	Italy	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	1 April	Tom Sykes	Carlos Checa	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Tom Sykes	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing
3	R1	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen	22 April	Tom Sykes	Sylvain Guintoli	Sylvain Guintoli	Team Effenbert Liberty Racing	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Jonathan Rea	Honda World Superbike Team
4	R1	Italy	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza	6 May	Sylvain Guintoli	Race cancelled[N 2]			Report
	R2					Tom Sykes	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team
5	R1	United Kingdom	Donington Park	13 May	Tom Sykes	Max Biaggi	Marco Melandri	BMW Motorrad Motorsport	Report
	R2					Max Biaggi	Jonathan Rea	Honda World Superbike Team
6	R1	United States	Miller Motorsports Park	28 May	Jakub Smrž	Marco Melandri	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Marco Melandri	BMW Motorrad Motorsport
7	R1	San Marino	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli	10 June	Tom Sykes	Carlos Checa	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Racing Team	Report
	R2					Max Biaggi	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Racing Team
8	R1	Spain	Motorland Aragón	1 July	Tom Sykes	Marco Melandri	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Racing Team	Report
	R2					Marco Melandri	Marco Melandri	BMW Motorrad Motorsport
9	R1	Czech Republic	Masaryk Circuit	22 July	Tom Sykes	Carlos Checa	Marco Melandri	BMW Motorrad Motorsport	Report
	R2					Tom Sykes	Marco Melandri	BMW Motorrad Motorsport
10	R1	United Kingdom	Silverstone Circuit	5 August	Jakub Smrž	Ayrton Badovini	Loris Baz	Kawasaki Racing Team	Report
	R2					Loris Baz	Sylvain Guintoli	PATA Racing Team
11	R1	Russia	Moscow Raceway	26 August	Carlos Checa	Leon Haslam	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team	Report
	R2					Marco Melandri	Marco Melandri	BMW Motorrad Motorsport
12	R1	Germany	Nürburgring	9 September	Max Biaggi	Max Biaggi	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Racing Team	Report
	R2					Carlos Checa	Chaz Davies	ParkinGO MTC Racing
13	R1	Portugal	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve	23 September	Tom Sykes	Carlos Checa	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team	Report
	R2					Eugene Laverty	Eugene Laverty	Aprilia Racing Team
14	R1	France	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	7 October	Tom Sykes	Sylvain Guintoli	Sylvain Guintoli	PATA Racing Team	Report
	R2					Davide Giugliano	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki Racing Team

Footnotes

Entry list

• A provisional entry list was released by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme on 18 January 2012.^[8]

2012 entry list Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds Crescent Fixi Suzuki[9] Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 2 Leon Camier[10] All 21 John Hopkins[11] 2–4, 6–14 25 Josh Brookes[12] 1 60 Peter Hickman[13] 5 Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia Aprilia RSV4 Factory 3 Max Biaggi[14] All 58 Eugene Laverty[15] All Honda World Superbike Team Honda Honda CBR1000RR 4 Hiroshi Aoyama[16] All 65 Jonathan Rea[17] All Team Pedercini Kawasaki[18] Kawasaki ZX-10R 5 Alexander Lundh[19] 11–14 20 David Johnson[20] 10 36 Leandro Mercado[21] 2–9 44 David Salom[21] 1–4, 6–13 67 Bryan Staring[22] 1 69 David McFadden[19] 11 71 Claudio Corti[23] 14 101 Gary Mason[13] 5 Althea Racing Ducati Ducati 1098R 7 Carlos Checa[24] All 34 Davide Giugliano[24] All Prop-tech ltd Honda Honda CBR1000RR 13 Viktor Kispataki[25] 9 Boulder Motor Sports Ducati Ducati 1098R 14 Shane Turpin[26] 6 Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda Honda Honda CBR1000RR 15 Lorenzo Alfonsi[27] 2 35 Raffaele De Rosa[8] 1 Grillini Progea Superbike Team BMW BMW S1000RR 16 Jake Holden[28] 6 18 Mark Aitchison[29] 1–5 23 Federico Sandi[30] 7 64 Norino Brignola[31] 8–10, 12–14 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Kawasaki ZX-10R 17 Joan Lascorz[32] 1–2 66 Tom Sykes[32] All 76 Loris Baz[33] 5–14 199 Sergio Gadea[34] 4 ParkinGO MTC Racing Aprilia[35] Aprilia RSV4 Factory 19 Chaz Davies[36] All Rossair AEP Racing BMW BMW S1000RR 20 David Johnson[37] 1 BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW BMW S1000RR 33 Marco Melandri[38] All 91 Leon Haslam[39] All Team Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati Ducati 1098R 50 Sylvain Guintoli[40] 1–8 57 Lorenzo Lanzi[41] 12–13 68 Brett McCormick[42] 2–3, 10, 12–13 96 Jakub Smrž[43] 1–10 121 Maxime Berger[43] 1–10, 12 PATA Racing Team Ducati[44] Ducati 1098R 50 Sylvain Guintoli[45] 10–14 87 Lorenzo Zanetti[44] All Red Devils Roma[46][47] Ducati Ducati 1098R 53 Alex Polita[48] 9 59 Niccolò Canepa[49] 1–8, 10–12 121 Maxime Berger[50] 14 151 Matteo Baiocco[51] 13 BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet BMW BMW S1000RR 84 Michel Fabrizio[52] All 86 Ayrton Badovini[52] All Barni Racing Team Italia Ducati Ducati 1098R 151 Matteo Baiocco[53] 7

Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

• All entries used Pirelli tyres.

Championship standings

Riders' standings

Pos. Rider Bike AUS ITA NED ITA EUR USA SMR SPA CZE GBR RUS GER POR FRA Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1 Biaggi Aprilia 1 2 4 4 4 8 C 5 5 2 3 3 1 1 1 4 6 4 Ret 11 3 Ret 1 13 4 3 Ret 5 358 2 Sykes Kawasaki 4 3 2 2 Ret 6 C 1 3 3 8 5 4 7 Ret 8 2 2 8 12 1 2 4 5 1 Ret 3 1 357.5 3 Melandri BMW 2 6 6 10 9 4 C 4 1 Ret 2 1 Ret 4 2 1 1 1 7 8 2 1 Ret Ret Ret DNS 2 Ret 328.5 4 Checa Ducati Ret 1 1 1 3 17 C 7 6 Ret 1 Ret 2 Ret 3 7 4 3 5 6 Ret 4 12 6 2 5 Ret 7 287.5 5 Rea Honda 7 4 9 5 Ret 1 C 6 4 1 4 2 5 2 16 5 Ret 12 4 9 Ret 7 Ret 4 6 2 13 2 278.5 6 Laverty Aprilia Ret 8 5 6 5 3 C 3 15 Ret 5 6 7 Ret 5 2 5 5 10 4 4 Ret 2 2 13 1 7 4 263.5 7 Guintoli Ducati 3 Ret Ret 11 1 2 C DNS 8 5 12 10 8 Ret 12 13 16 1 Ret 11 6 10 3 4 1 3 213.5 8 Haslam BMW 12 5 3 3 Ret 5 C 2 2 15 10 8 12 3 7 6 7 7 6 17 6 Ret 7 Ret 19 Ret 5 Ret 200 9 Davies Aprilia DNS DNS Ret 14 Ret Ret C 12 12 7 7 4 6 Ret 4 3 11 6 14 7 Ret 3 3 1 Ret Ret Ret 8 164.5 10 Giugliano Ducati 9 13 Ret Ret 2 9 C 8 7 Ret 11 7 3 Ret 8 10 Ret 11 9 Ret Ret 6 Ret 7 Ret NC 8 6 143 11 Fabrizio BMW 6 Ret Ret Ret 6 10 C DNS 10 13 9 12 14 6 6 11 8 10 2 13 5 Ret Ret Ret 10 8 12 Ret 137.5 12 Badovini BMW Ret Ret 15 15 Ret 7 C 10 11 6 14 13 11 5 Ret 9 Ret Ret 3 Ret 12 8 9 9 9 6 6 9 133 13 Baz Kawasaki 16 8 15 14 Ret 8 Ret 20 3 8 1 2 11 9 Ret 8 7 7 10 Ret 122 14 Camier Suzuki 17 12 Ret 8 Ret 14 C 15 9 4 13 11 10 15 9 Ret 14 9 Ret Ret 15 5 5 3 11 Ret Ret 10 115.5 15 Smrž Ducati 5 11 11 7 7 Ret C 9 14 Ret 6 9 9 9 Ret DNS 10 13 17 3 92.5 16 Berger Ducati 13 7 12 12 11 Ret C 13 13 Ret 16 15 13 11 10 12 9 15 11 5 11 14 4 11 92 17 Zanetti Ducati 11 14 8 13 14 Ret C 14 18 12 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 14 16 16 12 16 8 10 8 11 16 12 Ret 13 68 18 Aoyama Honda 8 9 18 Ret 12 13 C 11 17 10 17 DNS 16 12 14 15 Ret Ret 13 14 13 Ret 10 15 8 Ret Ret 14 61.5 19 Hopkins Suzuki 13 Ret Ret 11 C DNS Ret 16 17 14 15 Ret 15 14 Ret 10 9 12 13 12 12 11 DNS DNS 44 20 Canepa Ducati 20 10 10 Ret 8 Ret C 17 19 11 Ret Ret 18 13 11 17 Ret 15 7 Ret DNS DNS 42.5 21 Salom Kawasaki 14 Ret 19 17 13 12 C DNS Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 18 Ret 15 Ret 10 13 DNS DNS Ret 13 22 22 McCormick Ducati 16 16 Ret Ret DNS DNS 15 Ret 5 9 19 23 Lascorz Kawasaki 15 Ret 7 9 17 24 Corti Kawasaki 9 12 11 25 Brignola BMW 17 19 13 17 DNS DNS 17 17 17 15 11 15 10 26 Mercado Kawasaki 14 Ret 10 15 C 16 Ret Ret Ret 17 19 16 Ret 18 Ret DNS 9 27 Lanzi Ducati 14 16 18 10 8 28 Baiocco Ducati 15 10 15 Ret 8 29 Lundh Kawasaki 14 14 16 Ret 14 14 DNS DNS 8 30 Hickman Suzuki NC 9 7 31 Staring Kawasaki 10 16 6 32 Polita Ducati 12 Ret 4 33 Aitchison BMW 18 Ret 17 18 15 16 C DNS NC 14 3 34 Brookes Suzuki 16 15 1 McFadden Kawasaki 16 Ret 0 Kispataki Honda 17 18 0 Sandi BMW 20 17 0 De Rosa Honda Ret 17 0 Turpin Ducati 18 19 0 Holden BMW 19 18 0 Johnson BMW 19 Ret 0 Kawasaki DNS DNS Alfonsi Honda Ret Ret 0 Mason Kawasaki Ret Ret 0 Gadea Kawasaki C DNS 0 Pos. Rider Bike AUS ITA NED ITA EUR USA SMR SPA CZE GBR RUS GER POR FRA 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 position Italics – Fastest lap

Manufacturers' standings

Pos.	Manufacturer	AUS		ITA		NED		ITA		EUR		USA		SMR		SPA		CZE		GBR		RUS		GER		POR		FRA		Pts
		R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
1	Aprilia	1	2	4	4	4	3	C	3	5	2	3	3	1	1	1	2	5	4	10	4	3	3	1	1	4	1	7	4	444.5
2	BMW	2	5	3	3	6	4	C	2	1	6	2	1	11	3	2	1	1	1	2	8	2	1	7	9	9	6	2	9	421
3	Ducati	3	1	1	1	1	2	C	7	6	5	1	7	2	9	3	7	4	3	5	1	7	4	6	6	2	4	1	3	416
4	Kawasaki	4	3	2	2	10	6	C	1	3	3	8	5	4	7	Ret	8	2	2	1	2	1	2	4	5	1	7	3	1	397.5
5	Honda	7	4	9	5	12	1	C	6	4	1	4	2	5	2	14	5	17	12	4	9	13	7	10	4	6	2	13	2	293.5
6	Suzuki	16	12	13	8	Ret	11	C	15	9	4	13	11	10	14	9	Ret	14	9	Ret	10	9	5	5	3	11	11	Ret	10	136.5
Pos.	Manufacturer	AUS		ITA		NED		ITA		EUR		USA		SMR		SPA		CZE		GBR		RUS		GER		POR		FRA		Pts

• The second races at Monza and Silverstone were stopped early and half points were awarded.