MotoGP 2016: Six reasons why you won’t be able to look away

1: CASEY STONER
The dual world champ’s rekindled relationship with Ducati will presumably result in the Des-mosedicis battling for podiums more often which is great news for spectators. What’s better still is the likelihood of the Australian making at least one wildcard appearance during the 2016 season which will surely have both Aussie fans and Phillip Island proprietors rubbing their hands together.

2: LOOK AT ME!
Of the 21 full-time riders in the MotoGP class this year, 19 of them will find themselves with an expired contract come the Valencia finale on Sunday, November 13. Jack Miller and Mav-erick Viñales are the only two riders who have agreements in place through to the end of 2017, and even then Vinales has the option to leave if he gets a better offer. Right from when the lights go out, every single rider will be riding to make himself as desirable as pos-sible to future employees and that means bold moves and hard racing. And that alone sets this season up as a must-see.

3: TYRES
Tyres are possibly the single most important factor that tips the balance between winning and losing races and not one team has its head around the new Michelin rubber. It’s not really surprising considering Bridgestone has been the sole supplier for the last seven seasons and riders, teams and manufacturers have spent years tweaking set-ups and riding styles to get the most out of one particular brand and its characteristics. That brand is now out, Michelin is now in and pre-season tests at three separate circuits proved the riders, teams, manufacturers — and Michelin itself — still have so much to learn. More importantly, until it does it means each and every race will be delightfully unpredictable.

4: MAVERICK VIÑALES
If there’s one bloke quietly confident about his 2016 results, it’s 2013 Moto3 world champ Maverick Viñales. Not only has his Suzuki received some much-needed upgrades during the off-season in the form of more power and a seamless shift gearbox, but he’s in better physi-cal shape than he’s ever been. Those factors culminated in results and the Spaniard topped the three-day pre-season test at Philip Island as well as one day at Sepang for the second-fastest overall time of the Malaysian test. Considering he’s only been riding a MotoGP bike for as long as Miller and he’s posting fastest times on a machine that’s very much still un-der development, he’s bound to throw a few cats among the front-running pigeons this sea-son. He’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain if he does and it all spells delight for the fans.   

5: CLASH BACKLASH
I don’t care how sick of the Sepang Clash you think you might be, there isn’t one MotoGP fan who doesn’t want to see Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez do their sorting out on track, like men. Some of the very best races during the last two decades of Grand Prix racing have been the result of Rossi squaring up with a rival and 2016 is sure to produce a couple of very bests of its own.

6: ELECTRONICS
If brand-new tyres weren’t a significant enough thing for teams to have to adapt to during season 2016, the electronics are also new for this season and equality significant, many would say, in terms of winning and losing races. The switch to standardised software across the premier class levels the playing field. Compared to the sophisticated systems Honda and Yamaha have been using until now it’s a few generations behind, but far superior to the soft-ware the likes of Suzuki and Aprilia have previously been using.