Jorge Lorenzo will start the season as the defending World Champion, having secured his fifth overall Championship title at the 2015 Valencian Community Grand Prix. After eight rounds Marc Marquez leads the championship by twenty-four points over defending champion Jorge Lorenzo, who is a further eighteen points ahead of his team-mate Valentino Rossi
Calendar
The following Grands Prix are officially scheduled to take place in 2016.[1]
The 2016 season will see the return of the Austrian Grand Prix to the series' schedule after 19 years absence. The race will be held at the Red Bull Ring, which was the venue of the last Austrian Grand Prix, when the track was called A1 Ring.[1]
Having been on the calendar since 2008, the Indianapolis round has been discontinued.[3]
For the first time in the history of the Dutch TT, the races were held on a Sunday.[1]
Teams and riders
A provisional entry list was announced on 7 November 2015.[4]
Starting in 2016, Michelin will become the series' official tyre supplier following Bridgestone's withdrawal from the category.[25]Dorna have also agreed a rule change to the 2016 regulations to increase the wheel size from 16.5 inches to 17 inches (similar to Moto2 and Moto3).[26]
The previous Factory and Open classes will be merged: every bike must adopt the unified electronic package (ECU and software).[27] Each rider will be able to use up to seven engines in a season, albeit with frozen specifications, and the maximum fuel tank capacity will be 22 litres.[28] Factories without a dry win between 2013 and 2015 will still be allowed to use 12 engines with free development, but in case of a determined number of podiums or wins scored during 2016 the factory will lose these benefits for the next season.[28] Similarly, any manufacturer not scoring a single podium in 2016 will gain those concessions in 2017.