The 2012 FIM Moto3 World Championship was the lightweight class of the 64th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) 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, which gave him an unassailable points lead over his two title rivals Luis Salom and Maverick Viñales in the championship race. Cortese also became the first rider to win any Grand Prix title for the Austrian manufacturer KTM. 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.

Calendar The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2012:

The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme released an 17-race provisional calendar on 14 September 2011. Another provisional calendar was released three months later, with the Qatar Grand Prix moved forward by a week. RoundDateGrand PrixCircuit 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 Circuito Estoril 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 13 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. All teams used Dunlop tyres.

TeamConstructorMotorcycleRiderRounds Ioda Team Italia IodaRacing Project Ioda Ioda TR002 3 Luigi Morciano 1–13, 17 80 Armando Pontone 3, 10–17 94 Jonas Folger 1, 4–9 Team Italia FMI FTR Honda FTR M312 5 Romano Fenati All 19 Alessandro Tonucci All TT Motion Events Racing KTM KTM RC250GP 6 Joan Olivé 3, 11 31 Niklas Ajo JHK T-shirt Laglisse JHK Laglisse Honda Honda NSF250R 7 Efrén Vázquez 1 26 Adrián Martín 1 FTR Honda FTR M312 7 Efrén Vázquez 2–17 26 Adrián Martín 2–17 Caretta Technology Honda Honda NSF250R 8 Jack Miller 1–2, 4–10, 12–17 10 Alexis Masbou 1–11 71 Michael Ruben Rinaldi 11–12 73 Manuel Tatasciore 3 KRP Honda KRP M3-01 17 John McPhee 13–17 Cresto Guide MZ Racing MZ Racing MZ Moto3 9 Toni Finsterbusch 1 MZ FTR FTR M312 2 Honda Honda NSF250R 3–4, 6–11 Racing Team Germany Honda Honda NSF250R 9 Toni Finsterbusch 12–17 FTR Honda FTR M312 96 Louis Rossi All Red Bull KTM Ajo KTMKTM RC250GP 11 Sandro Cortese All 52 Danny Kent All 61 Arthur Sissis All AirAsia-SIC-Ajo 63 Zulfahmi Khairuddin All Ambrogio Next Racing Suter Honda Suter MMX3 12 Álex Márquez 10–17 15 Simone Grotzkyj 4–9 30 Giulian Pedone 4–17 Oral Oral M3 15 Simone Grotzkyj 1–3 30 Giulian Pedone 2–3 Estrella Galicia 0,0 Suter Honda Suter MMX3 12 Álex Márquez 2–3, 5 42 Álex Rins All 44 Miguel Oliveira All KRP Honda KRP M3-01 17 John McPhee 5–6, 11 79 Fraser Rogers 6 Mahindra Racing Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 20 Riccardo Moretti 9–11, 14–16 77 Marcel Schrötter 1–8 95 Miroslav Popov 11–13, 17 99 Danny Webb 1–10, 12–17 Andalucia JHK Laglisse FTR Honda FTR M312 21 Iván Moreno 1–9 23 Alberto Moncayo 10–16 55 Héctor Faubel 17 Dutch Racing Team Honda Honda NSF250R 22 Bryan Schouten 7 Bankia Aspar Team Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 Kalex KTM Kalex KTM 23 Alberto Moncayo 1–9 29 Luca Amato 13–17 55 Héctor Faubel 1–12 94 Jonas Folger 10–17 Blusens Avintia Repsol FTR Honda FTR M312 25 Maverick Viñales All San Carlo Gresini Moto3 Honda Honda NSF250R 27 Niccolò Antonelli 1 FTR Honda FTR M312 2–17 Wild Wolf BST FTR Honda FTR M312 28 Josep Rodríguez 2 58 13, 17 Ongetta-Centro Seta Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda FTR M312 28 Josep Rodríguez 12 32 Isaac Viñales 1–11, 13–17 84 Jakub Kornfeil All Moto FGR FGR Honda FGR 250 GP 28 Josep Rodríguez 14–17 53 Jasper Iwema 1–13 Team Imperiali Racing Honda Honda NSF250R 33 Stefano Valtulini 12 Fastline GP Racing Honda Honda NSF250R 36 Sam Clarke 16 RW Racing GP Kalex KTM Kalex KTM 39 Luis Salom All 41 Brad Binder All MIR Racing Honda 40 Julián Miralles 7 Freudenberg Racing Team Honda Honda NSF250R 43 Luca Grünwald 8, 11 Bradol Larresport Honda Honda NSF250R 49 Jorge Navarro 13 Technomag-CIP-TSR TSR Honda TSR TSR3 51 Kenta Fujii All 89 Alan Techer All HP Moto Kalex Kalex KTM Kalex KTM 65 Philipp Öttl 17 Racing Team Gabrielli Honda Honda NSF250R 71 Michael Ruben Rinaldi 9 Elle 2 Ciatti Honda Honda NSF250R 74 Kevin Calia 9, 12 K1 Racing Honda Honda NSF250R 75 Lincoln Gilding 16 Project μ 7C Harc Honda Honda NSF250R 81 Hyuga Watanabe 14 18 Garage Racing Team Honda Honda NSF250R 82 Yudai Kamei 14 Thomas Sabo GP Team Honda Honda NSF250R 86 Kevin Hanus 3–4, 8Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider

Results and standings Grands Prix Round Grand Prix Pole position Fastest lap Winning rider Winning team 1 Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix Sandro Cortese Maverick Viñales Blusens Avintia FTR Honda Report 2 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix Álex Rins Romano Fenati Romano Fenati Team Italia FMI FTR Honda Report 3 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix Sandro Cortese Sandro Cortese Sandro Cortese Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM Report 4 French motorcycle Grand Prix Maverick Viñales Jakub Kornfeil Louis Rossi Racing Team Germany FTR Honda Report 5 Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix Maverick Viñales Álex Márquez Maverick Viñales Blusens Avintia FTR Honda Report 6 British motorcycle Grand Prix Maverick Viñales Sandro Cortese Maverick Viñales Blusens Avintia FTR Honda Report 7 Dutch TT Sandro Cortese Maverick Viñales Blusens Avintia FTR Honda Report 8 German motorcycle Grand Prix Sandro Cortese Sandro Cortese Sandro Cortese Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM Report 9 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix Maverick Viñales Sandro Cortese Maverick Viñales Blusens Avintia FTR Honda Report 10 Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix Sandro Cortese Romano Fenati Luis Salom RW Racing GP Kalex KTM Report 11 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix Maverick Viñales Luis Salom Jonas Folger Kalex KTM Report 12 Sandro Cortese Álex Rins Sandro Cortese Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM Report 13 Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix Jonas Folger Danny Kent Luis Salom RW Racing GP Kalex KTM Report 14 Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix Danny Kent Alessandro Tonucci Danny Kent Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM Report 15 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix Zulfahmi Khairuddin Sandro Cortese Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM Report 16 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix Sandro Cortese Alessandro Tonucci Sandro Cortese Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM Report 17 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix 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.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th   13th   14th   15th  Points 25 20 16 13 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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 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 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 Yudai 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 PtsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest LapLight blue – Rookie

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