This race was most notable for the last victory of Casey Stoner before he chose to retire, as well as his final win on home soil.

Pedrosa has a 23-point deficit to Lorenzo, and if he scores three or more points in this race, he will be crowned the 2012 MotoGP world champion.

The second row of the grid consists out of Cal Crutchlow, Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso.

As the lights go out, Lorenzo and Pedrosa manage to pass Stoner who gets demoted to third as the pack goes into Doohan Corner (Turn 1) on the opening lap.

Lap two starts and Stoner manages to get a great drive out of Turn 12 to go side-by-side with Lorenzo on the straight.

[4][7] As the trio goes into the Honda Hairpin, Pedrosa loses the front of his bike and slides out of the lead, as well as the title upon acceleration.

[4][7] A confused and defeated Pedrosa tries to rejoin the race, but to no avail as he is dead last and a long way back to his title rival.

On lap twelve, Bautista finally makes his move at the Honda Corner, lunging down the inside of Dovizioso and snatching away fourth.

[4] Lap thirteen and Bradl also makes his move on Dovizioso, going up his inside at the fast Southern Loop (Turn 2) for fifth position.

As lap twenty-one starts, Roberto Rolfo has retired from the race with technical problems as he is seen pushing his bike on the grass with the marshalls surrounding him.

Further back, Aleix Espargaró has overtaken his Aspar teammate Randy de Puniet for tenth position after the Frenchman went wide at the Honda Corner.

On lap twenty-two, Bautista managed to pass Dovizioso before the start/finish straight but the Italian dived down the inside at the Doohan corner and retakes fifth place as a result.

Bradl starts to struggle a bit now and the two behind him close the small gap, with Bautista harassing Dovizioso all throughout the lap.

Backmarker Iván Silva lets Lorenzo past without any problems as the midfield trio of Dovizioso, Bradl and Bautista are still close to each other and fighting for positions.

Further behind, Bradl has closed up the small gap to Bautista again and even further back, Hayden starts to put some pressure on Rossi for seventh position.

Exiting the Southern Loop, Bautista's knee hit a bit of dirt on the edge of the circuit, causing him to wobble slightly.

Lorenzo does a big wheelie as he crosses the finish line to come home in second place, making him the 2012 MotoGP world champion.

[4][7] During the parade lap on the way back to parc fermé, one of the Yamaha crewmembers congratulates Lorenzo with him holding a Spanish flag.

The trio make their way up to the podium but before that, Stoner has an intimate moment with his wife Adriana Tuchyna and his first child Alessandra Maria in the box.

The trio then make their way onto the podium, beginning with Crutchlow, then Lorenzo and then - under a loud applause and many cheers from the crowd - Stoner.

The Australian national anthem plays and once it stops, Lorenzo steps off the podium, much to the confusion of the other tro riders.