The 2016 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 68th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The season was marred by the death of Luis Salom during a free practice session, at the Catalan Grand Prix. [1]
Johann Zarco started the season as the defending World Champion, having secured his first championship title at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix. [2] With victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix – his sixth of the 2016 season – Zarco was able to retain his title, [3] amassing an unassailable points lead ahead of the final round in Valencia. As a result, Zarco became the first French rider to win multiple world motorcycle racing titles, [4] as well as becoming the first rider in the Moto2 era to defend the world championship, and the first to do so in the intermediate class since Jorge Lorenzo in 2006 and 2007. [5] Zarco completed the season with victory in Valencia, [6] as he won the championship by an eventual margin of 42 points.
The runner-up position remained up for grabs in Valencia, as four-time winner Thomas Lüthi, double winner Álex Rins and Franco Morbidelli all had a mathematical chance of finishing there. Ultimately with a second-place finish, [6] Lüthi finished clear of Rins by 20 points; Lüthi's last-lap pass on Morbidelli also cost the latter third place in the championship by a point, as Rins had finished the race in fifth place. [6] Morbidelli took a total of eight podium finishes, including each of the last five races, but was unable to take a victory. Four other riders won races; Sam Lowes took two race victories at Jerez and Aragon, [7] [8] Jonas Folger won at Brno, [9] while first Grand Prix victories went to Takaaki Nakagami at Assen, [10] and Lorenzo Baldassarri in Misano. [11] The constructors' championship went to Kalex with a maximum score of 450 points, with a 34-race winning streak at the conclusion of the season – a run stretching back to a Speed Up victory for Lowes at the 2015 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas.
The following Grands Prix took place in 2016. [13]
A provisional entry list was announced on 7 November 2015. [15] All Moto2 competitors raced with an identical CBR600RR inline-four engine developed by Honda. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.
Round | Grand Prix | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning rider | Winning team | Winning constructor | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix | Jonas Folger | Sam Lowes | Thomas Lüthi | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | Report |
2 | Argentine Republic motorcycle Grand Prix | Sam Lowes | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
3 | Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas | Álex Rins | Sam Lowes | Álex Rins | Páginas Amarillas HP 40 | Kalex | Report |
4 | Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix | Sam Lowes | Álex Rins | Sam Lowes | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | Report |
5 | French motorcycle Grand Prix | Thomas Lüthi | Álex Rins | Álex Rins | Páginas Amarillas HP 40 | Kalex | Report |
6 | Italian motorcycle Grand Prix | Sam Lowes | Thomas Lüthi | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
7 | Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
8 | Dutch TT | Thomas Lüthi | Takaaki Nakagami | Takaaki Nakagami | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | Kalex | Report |
9 | German motorcycle Grand Prix | Takaaki Nakagami | Xavier Siméon | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
10 | Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
11 | Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Jonas Folger | Jonas Folger | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | Report |
12 | British motorcycle Grand Prix | Sam Lowes | Thomas Lüthi | Thomas Lüthi | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | Report |
13 | San Marino and Rimini Riviera motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Álex Rins | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Forward Team | Kalex | Report |
14 | Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix | Sam Lowes | Franco Morbidelli | Sam Lowes | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | Report |
15 | Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Franco Morbidelli | Thomas Lüthi | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | Report |
16 | Australian motorcycle Grand Prix | Thomas Lüthi | Franco Morbidelli | Thomas Lüthi | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | Report |
17 | Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Luca Marini | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
18 | Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Johann Zarco | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | Report |
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 |
|
Bold – Pole |
Each constructor received the same number of points as their best placed rider in each race.
Pos | Constructor | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | AUT | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Kalex | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 450 |
2 | Speed Up | 3 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 13 | 8 | Ret | 9 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 136 |
3 | Tech 3 | 19 | 14 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 24 | 16 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 47 |
4 | Suter | 22 | 26 | DNS | 25 | 19 | 10 | 6 | ||||||||||||
TSR | 22 | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
TransFIORmers | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
NTS | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
Pos | Constructor | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | AUT | CZE | GBR | RSM | ARA | JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | Pts |
Luis Jaime Salom Horrach was a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. Salom died after a practice accident at Circuit de Catalunya, when making contact with his bike and the wall after a high-speed accident. Racing in the Moto2 class since 2014, he finished 41 races, with 3 podium appearances, including a second-place finish at the 2016 Qatar season opener. At the time of his death, Salom ranked 10th in the 2016 Moto2 Championship point standings. Previously he had competed in Moto3, accumulating nine race victories, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the 2012 and 2013 championships, respectively.
Johann Zarco is a French Grand Prix motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2015 and 2016 Moto2 World Championships with his 2015 triumph being a record points total for the intermediate class. He is a MotoGP race winner, and currently rides for Castrol Honda LCR in MotoGP.
Maverick Viñales Ruiz is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle racer who won the 2013 Moto3 World Championship. After five seasons as a MotoGP factory rider with the Yamaha Factory Racing team, his contract was terminated by mutual consent midway through the 2021 season. He joined the Aprilia Racing team from 2022 riding in the MotoGP class.
Marcel Schrötter is a German motorcycle racer.
The 2014 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 66th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Pol Espargaró was the reigning series champion, but did not contest the season as he joined the series' premier class, MotoGP.
The 2014 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 66th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Maverick Viñales was the reigning series champion, but did not contest the season as he moved to the series' intermediate class, Moto2.
The 2015 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 67th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Álex Márquez was the reigning series champion but he did not defend his title as he joined the series' intermediate class, Moto2. Danny Kent became Great Britain's first Grand Prix motorcycle world champion since Barry Sheene in 1977, by winning the championship at the final race of the season in Valencia. Leopard Racing rider Kent started the season with wins at three of the first four races and his lowest finish in the first half of the season was fourth, leading the championship by 66 points at the mid-season break. He only visited the podium once in the second half of the season – a victory at Silverstone – as Enea Bastianini and latterly, Miguel Oliveira started to cut into his advantage. Oliveira trailed Kent by 110 points with 6 races remaining, but finished with 4 wins and 2 seconds in those races, and took the championship race to the final event as he became the closest challenger to Kent. Ultimately, Kent's ninth-place finish in Valencia gave him the championship by six points over Oliveira; both riders finished with six wins each, as Oliveira became Portugal's first motorcycle Grand Prix race-winner. Bastianini finished third in the championship, fifty-three points behind Kent; he won one race during the season, at Misano.
The 2015 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 67th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Marc VDS Racing Team rider Tito Rabat started the season as the defending riders' champion, having won his first championship title in 2014.
The 2016 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 68th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Danny Kent was the reigning series champion but did not defend his title as he joined the series' intermediate class, Moto2.
Fabio Alain Quartararo, nicknamed El Diablo, is a French Grand Prix motorcycle rider racing in MotoGP for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team. Having won the 2021 MotoGP World Championship, he is the first French World Champion in the premier class' history.
The 2017 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 69th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
The 2017 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 69th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
The 2018 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 70th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Marc Márquez entered the season as the reigning champion, with Repsol Honda being the reigning team champions and Honda the reigning constructors' champions.
The 2018 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 70th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Franco Morbidelli was the reigning series champion, but he did not defend his title as he moved to the MotoGP class.
The 2019 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 71st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
The 2019 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 71st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Francesco Bagnaia was the reigning series champion but he was unable to defend his title as he joined the series' premier class, the MotoGP.
The 2020 FIM MotoGP World Championship was the premier class of the 72nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.
The 2020 FIM Moto2 World Championship was a part of the 72nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The season calendar has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the cancellation or postponement of many races.
The 2013 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 65th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The riders' championship title was won by Team Calvo rider Maverick Viñales and runner up by Álex Rins from Estrella Galicia 0,0.
The 2021 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 73rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Pedro Acosta secured the 2021 championship with one race left in the season, which was marred by the death of Jason Dupasquier during the second qualifying session of the Italian Grand Prix.
The Argiñano & Ginés Racing Team brought 3 riders this time to Alcañiz; the two official riders, Marcel Schrötter and Áxel Pons, and our European Champion Steven Odendaal as a wild card.
Ramdan Rosli (Petronas AHM Malaysia) will join the Moto2 World Championship for the weekend, the Malaysian also making the step over from the FIM CEV Repsol series.