The 2016 FIM Moto2 World Championship was the intermediate class of the 68th Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) 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.
Johann Zarco started the season as the defending World Champion, having secured his first championship title at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix. With victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix – his sixth of the 2016 season – Zarco was able to retain his title, 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, 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 and . Zarco completed the season with victory in Valencia, 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, 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. 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, Jonas Folger won at Brno, while first Grand Prix victories went to Takaaki Nakagami at Assen, and Lorenzo Baldassarri in Misano. 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.
Changes for 2016 French oil and gas giants company Total was selected to become official fuel supplier of Moto2 and Moto3 beginning from 2016 onwards, replacing Eni after five seasons as a fuel supplier of Moto2 and Moto3.
Calendar The following Grands Prix took place in 2016.
Round Date Grand Prix Circuit 1 20 March ‡ Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar Losail International Circuit, Lusail 2 3 April Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina 3 10 April Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas Circuit of the Americas, Austin 4 24 April Gran Premio Red Bull de España Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera 5 8 May Monster Energy Grand Prix de France Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans 6 22 May Gran Premio d'Italia TIM Mugello Circuit, Scarperia e San Piero 7 5 June Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló 8 26 June Motul TT Assen TT Circuit Assen, Assen 9 17 July GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland Sachsenring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal 10 14 August NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 11 21 August HJC Helmets Grand Prix České republiky Brno Circuit, Brno 12 4 September Octo British Grand Prix Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 13 11 September Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico 14 Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón MotorLand Aragón, Alcañiz 15 16 October Motul Grand Prix of Japan Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 16 23 October Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island 17 30 October Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit, Sepang 18 13 November Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia
‡ = Night race
Calendar changes The Grand Prix of the Americas and the Argentine Grand Prix have swapped places, with Argentina hosting the second round, while the Grand Prix of the Americas hosts the third round. For the first time in the history of the Dutch TT, the races were held on a Sunday. The 2016 season had seen the return of the Austrian Grand Prix to the series' schedule after 19 years of absence. The last race, which had been the 1997 Austrian Grand Prix, was held at the A1-Ring, now called the Red Bull Ring. Having been on the calendar since 2008, the Indianapolis Grand Prix was taken off the calendar.
Teams and riders A provisional entry list was announced on 7 November 2015. All Moto2 competitors raced with an identical CBR600RR inline-four engine developed by Honda. Teams competed with tyres supplied by Dunlop.
TeamConstructorMotorcycleRiderRounds Sports-Millions-Emwe-SAG SAG Team Kalex Kalex Moto2 2 Jesko Raffin All 39 Luis Salom 1–7 AGR Team Kalex Kalex Moto2 4 Steven Odendaal 14 23 Marcel Schrötter All 49 Axel Pons All Ajo Motorsport Ajo Motorsport Academy Kalex Kalex Moto2 5 Johann Zarco All 45 Tetsuta Nagashima 14–15 Forward Team Kalex Kalex Moto2 7 All 10 Luca Marini All JPMoto Malaysia Suter Suter MMX2 8 Efrén Vázquez 1–3 69 Danny Eslick 5 88 Ricard Cardús 6 Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex Kalex Moto2 11 Sandro Cortese All 94 Jonas Folger All Garage Plus Interwetten CarXpert Interwetten Kalex Kalex Moto2 12 Thomas Lüthi All 27 Iker Lecuona 70 Robin Mulhauser All 77 Dominique Aegerter 1–11, 14 Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex Kalex Moto2 14 Ratthapark Wilairot 1–7, 9–18 30 Takaaki Nakagami All Promoto Sport TransFIORmers ??? 16 Hugo Clere 18 QMMF Racing Team Speed Up Speed Up SF16 19 Xavier Siméon All 60 Julián Simón All Leopard Racing Kalex Kalex Moto2 20 Alessandro Nocco 16–17 44 Miguel Oliveira 1–15, 18 52 Danny Kent All Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex Kalex Moto2 21 Franco Morbidelli All 73 Álex Márquez All Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 22 Sam Lowes All Speed Up Racing Speed Up Speed Up SF16 24 Simone Corsi All Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 32 Isaac Viñales All 97 Xavi Vierge All Kalex Kalex Moto2 33 Alessandro Tonucci 1–6 87 Remy Gardner 7–18 Páginas Amarillas HP 40 Kalex Kalex Moto2 40 Álex Rins All 57 Edgar Pons 1–2, 4, 6–18 Team Ciatti Kalex Kalex Moto2 42 Federico Fuligni 4, 6, 13, 18 Italtrans Racing Team Kalex Kalex Moto2 54 Mattia Pasini All Petronas Raceline Malaysia Petronas AHM Malaysia Kalex Kalex Moto2 55 Hafizh Syahrin All 93 Ramdan Rosli 7, 16–17 Japan-GP2 Kalex Kalex Moto2 63 Naomichi Uramoto 15 Team Taro Plus One TSR ??? 84 Taro Sekiguchi 15 NTS T.Pro Project NTS ??? 89 Alan Techer 14 Montáže Brož Racing Team Suter Suter MMX2 95 Anthony West 11Key Regular rider Wildcard rider
Team changes JiR Moto2 announced that they would withdraw from the championship at the end of the 2015 season. Dynavolt Intact GP expanded to enter a second bike, while Italtrans Racing downgraded to a single entry in 2016. Leopard Racing returned to the Moto2 class after previously competing as Kiefer Racing from 2010 to 2012. The team competed on Kalex bikes, with Danny Kent and Miguel Oliveira as their riders. AGP Racing, who were listed on the provisional entry list, withdrew from the championship due to financial problems, leaving Federico Fuligni and Remy Gardner without rides. IodaRacing Project SRL also withdrew from the championship.
Rider changes Luis Salom left Paginas Amarillas HP 40 at the end of the 2015 season to join Stop and Go Racing Team. Salom's place at Pons Racing was taken by 2015 FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship winner Edgar Pons. Moto3 World Champion Danny Kent returned to the Moto2 class with Leopard Racing, following a season with Tech 3 back in 2013. Franco Morbidelli moved to Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS, following Tito Rabat's decision to join MotoGP with Marc VDS for 2016. Simone Corsi left Forward Racing at the end of the 2015 season to join Speed Up Racing. Jonas Folger left the AGR Team to join Dynavolt Intact GP. Sam Lowes replaced Xavier Siméon at Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 as part of a contract-signing for a MotoGP seat with Gresini in 2017. Siméon joined the QMMF Racing Team as a result. Mika Kallio returned to MotoGP, after being left without a ride in Moto2. He joined KTM as a test rider for their 2017 MotoGP project. Miguel Oliveira moved up to the Moto2 class, joining Leopard Racing. Randy Krummenacher left Moto2 to join the Supersport World Championship following JiR's withdrawal from the championship. After competing in the second half of the 2015 season with Tech 3 as a replacement rider, Xavi Vierge moved full-time to Moto2 with the same team. Efrén Vázquez moved up to the Moto2 class with JPMoto Malaysia replacing Ricard Cardús. Vázquez previously competed in the intermediate class in 2007. Luca Marini stepped up to the Moto2 class, with the Forward Team. Isaac Viñales moved up to the Moto2 class with Tech 3, replacing Marcel Schrötter. Schrötter moved to the AGR Team. Alessandro Tonucci moved up to the Moto2 class with Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 replacing Louis Rossi. Ratthapark Wilairot made a full-time return to Moto2 with Idemitsu Honda Team Asia. Azlan Shah, who was on the provisional entry list with JPMoto Malaysia, withdrew due to financial problems.
Mid-season changes After the Grand Prix of the Americas, Efrén Vázquez left the JPMoto Malaysia team. He was replaced by Danny Eslick in the 5th race and by Ricard Cardús in the 6th race. Before the 7th race, the JPMoto Malaysia team went bankrupt, so the team retired from the rest of the season. After the Italian Grand Prix, Alessandro Tonucci left the Tasca Racing Scuderia team. He was replaced by Remy Gardner for the rest of the season starting with the 7th race. Luis Salom was killed after an accident during Friday practice at the Catalan Grand Prix. His teammate Jesko Raffin withdrew from the weekend. Before the Dutch TT, the SAG Racing Team announced that they will complete the season with Raffin as the team's sole rider, with Salom's spot on the team left vacated for the rest of the season. Dominique Aegerter got injured after the Czech Republic Grand Prix, so he was replaced by Iker Lecuona for the 12th and the 13th races. Aegerter returned for the 14th race. However, upon signing a 2017 contract with Leopard Racing, he was fired from Interwetten, bringing Lecuona back for the remaining 4 races.
Results and standings
Grands Prix