In today’s Rewind feature we’re turning back time a full 12 months to the 2012 Dutch TT to review an action-packed and controversial grand prix.

Like it is today, the arm wrestle was between Honda and Yamaha, but in this instance the main event was between Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa and our own Casey Stoner.

For Stoner, even just being on the grid was a minor miracle. Many will recall his spectacular crash early on Friday morning as he hit a slick spot on the high-speed track. He sustained injuries to his left scaphoid, left arm, knee and head, but was back on the grid to contest Saturday’s race.

From pole, Stoner got the early break, followed closely by Pedrosa. Lorenzo was in check but would see his race end at the first corner after an ill-timed dive bomb by Alvaro Bautista cleaned him up and took him out of contention.

Bautista was cited by the stewards and sent to the rear of the grid for the following race, but up front there was little stopping the Honda pairing who would stretch their gap for a solid 1-2 finish.

The controversial incident between Alvaro Bautista and Jorge Lorenzo. Image: MotoGP.com.

Stoner’s margin was close to five seconds, with the victory moving him into the equal lead of the world title chase.

“It was a tough race, I had a lot of arm pump as I had to compensate for my injuries from the crash yesterday, but my fitness was good and the bike was working well in general,” said Stoner.

“I’m sorry for Jorge. Nobody wants to take points over a competitor in this manner, but as we can see, one race can change everything.

“To take pole position and now the win is really incredible. A big thanks to my whole team who never gave up.

“My plan was to get a better start than I actually did, take some advantage and use the energy I had to try and make a gap and try to hold on to the end.”

Click here to read CycleOnline’s race report from the 2012 event.