2016 Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix
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| Race 7 of 18 races in the 2016 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 5 June 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official name | Gran Premi Monster Energy d'Catalunya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló, Spain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2016 Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix was the seventh round of the 2016 MotoGP season. It was held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló on 5 June 2016.
Spanish rider Luis Salom was killed in a crash at Turn 12 during Free Practice 2 on 3 June, just under 25 minutes before the end of the Moto2 session.[1] As a result of his death, the race used the layout normally used by Formula One, to reduce speeds in the part of the track where Salom fatally crashed.[2]
Further additions were made in the chicane by safety officials, including making the car chicane a permanent yellow flag during the event, while also narrowing the chicane by two metres on the outside, following a further evaluation by a group of riders with officials Friday evening after the fatal crash.
Pre-race
Significant amounts of speculation concerning the top riders and their plans for 2017 culminated in a series of riders confirming their future teams. Double world champion Marc Marquez confirmed he would partner current teammate Dani Pedrosa for a further two seasons at Repsol Honda, while it was announced that current Tech 3 pairing Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro would both move to the new factory KTM squad.
Following Maverick Vinales' previous confirmation alongside Rossi at Yamaha, and reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo's confirmed move to Ducati, the only factory seats remaining were those alongside Andrea Iannone and Sam Lowes at Suzuki and Aprilia respectively.
References
- ^ "Statement – Luis Salom". motogp.com. Dorna Sports SL. 3 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016.
- ^ "Catalulnya MotoGP to use F1 layout following Salom tragedy". Crash.net. Crash.net. 3 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
- "MotoGP Official Website". Retrieved 23 May 2016.
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