The World Superbike Championship has come down to some nail-biting conclusions in its 25 years, but the 2012 World Superbike Championship is destined to be remembered as the closest and most keenly contested of all time.

In a year that saw nine different race winners – the highest number since 2001 – and five different manufacturers represented inside the top five, it was fitting that the title would be decided by a mere half-point at the 14th and final round at Magny-Cours, in France, at the weekend.

For Tom Sykes, to lose by such a margin is cruel, not least because it comes in a year that has seen both rider and Kawasaki come of age after several seasons in the doldrums. After four wins, nine pole positions and second in the standings, it’s hard to believe that no-one gave Sykes a fighting chance pre-season…

But circumstances conspired against Sykes and despite a charge in the final two events, it is Max Biaggi that comes away as the title winner for the second time in three years. Though his tally of five wins is the least achieved by a title winner since 2002, it is testament to both his consistency and the closeness of the series in general that he was still able to secure the title.

Behind them, there were few changes down the order after the final two races, Marco Melandri settling for third in what remains BMW’s best-ever season, while Carlos Checa and Jonathan Rea fly the flag for Ducati and Honda in fourth and fifth.

Despite ending his season with a different team to the one he started with, Sylvain Guintoli’s third win of the year sees him leapfrog Leon Haslam for seventh in the standings, the Frenchman notching up a third consecutive top seven finish overall.

ParkinGO MTC Aprilia rider Chaz Davies secures ‘rookie’ honours in ninth place at the end of a season that has seen him achieve super highs, but experience the occasional low, while Davide Giugliano squeezed back ahead of Michel Fabrizio to finish his first WSBK season in tenth place.

In all, the season began with 24 full-time riders (but fluctuated between 21 and 23 for much of the year), saw nine different winners from five different manufacturers, 15 different podium winners and 34 point scorers.

And yet, after 28 races and eight months, it would still only come down to just half a point.

Results from the 14th and final round of the 2012 World Superbike Championships in France overnight:

RACE ONE:

1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R 23 laps
2. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR +6.127s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +16.595s
4. Maxime Berger FRA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +21.857s
5. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +25.149s
6. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +32.778s
7. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +34.311s
8. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +47.269s
9. Claudio Corti ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +49.720s
10. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +50.192s
11. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +1 lap
12. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +1 lap
13. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +5 laps

Not Classified

14. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 9 laps completed
15. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 7 laps completed
16. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R 4 laps completed
17. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 2 laps completed
18. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR 2 laps completed
19. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 1 lap completed

Did Not Start

John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000
Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

Fastest lap
Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R 1m 53.143s

RACE TWO:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 23 laps
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +1.354s
3. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R +2.393s
4. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +13.122s
5. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +13.955s
6. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +18.229s
7. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +18.430s
8. Chaz Davies GBR ParkinGO MTC Aprilia RSV-4 +26.648s
9. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +33.809s
10. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +37.217s
11. Maxime Berger FRA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +38.871s
12. Claudio Corti ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +55.714s
13. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +57.621s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda  WSBK CBR1000RR +1m 05.487s
15. Norino Brignola ITA Grillini Progea BMW S1000RR +1 lap

Not Classified

16. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR 15 laps completed
17. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR 8 laps completed
18. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR 5 laps completed
19. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 5laps completed

Did Not Start

John Hopkins USA Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000
Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R

Fastest lap
Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Ducati 1098R 1m 53.143s

2012 World Superbike Championship rider standings

(2011 championship standings in italic brackets)

1. (3) Max Biaggi Aprilia Racing 358points
2. (13) Tom Sykes Kawasaki Racing 357.5
3. (2) Marco Melandri BMW Motorrad 328.5
4. (1) Carlos Checa Althea Ducati 287.5
5. (9) Jonathan Rea Honda WSBK 278.5
6. (4) Eugene Laverty Aprilia Racing 263.5
7. (6) Sylvain Guintoli Effenbert Liberty Ducati/PATA Ducati 213.5
8. (5) Leon Haslam BMW Motorrad 200
9. (-) Chaz Davies ParkinGO MTC Aprilia 164.5
10. (29) Davide Giugliano Althea Ducati 143 *
11. (12) Michel Fabrizio BMW Italia GoldBet 137.5
12. (10) Ayrton Badovini BMW Italia GoldBet 133
13. (-) Loris Baz Kawasaki Racing 122
14. (7) Leon Camier FIXI Crescent Suzuki 115.5
15. (14) Jakub Smrz Liberty Effenbert Ducati 92.5
16. (16) Maxime Berger Effenbert Liberty Ducati/Red Devils Ducati 92
17. (-) Lorenzo Zanetti PATA Ducati 68
18. (-) Hiroshi Aoyama Honda  WSBK 61.5
19. (20) John Hopkins Crescent Fixi Suzuki 44 *
20. (-) Niccolo Canepa Red Devils Roma Ducati 42.5
21. (-) David Salom Pedercini Kawasaki 22
22. (-) Brett McCormick Effenbert Liberty Ducati 19 **
23. (11) Joan Lascorz Kawasaki Racing 17 **
24. (-)Claudio Corti Pedercini Kawasaki 11 **
25. (-) Norino Brignola Grillini Progea BMW 10
26. (-) Leandro Mercado Pedercini Kawasaki 9
27. (28) Matteo Baiocco Barni Ducati/Red Devils Ducati 8 */**
28. (24) Lorenzo Lanzi Effenbert Liberty Ducati 8 */**
29. (-) Alexander Lundh Pedercini Kawasaki 8 **
30. (-) Peter Hickman FIXI Crescent Suzuki 7 **
31. (33) Bryan Staring Pedercini Kawasaki 6 */**
32. (27) Alex Polita Red Devils Roma Ducati 4 */**
33. (19) Mark Aitchison Grillini Progea BMW 3 **
34. (-) Josh Brookes FIXI Crescent Suzuki 1 **

* denotes part-season in 2011
** denotes part-season in 2012