2016 MotoGP season
The 2016 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 68th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Jorge Lorenzo had been the defending world champion, having secured his third MotoGP title and fifth overall Championship title at the 2015 Valencian Community Grand Prix.
The riders' championship title was won for the third time by Marc Márquez, after his fifth victory of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix has given him an unassailable lead over his title rivals Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi – who both crashed out at Motegi – with three races remaining. Márquez's title marked a return to the top step for Honda after a difficult 2015 campaign for its factory team. Márquez ultimately won the championship by 49 points.
Reigning champion Lorenzo won three of the first six races to lead the title race, but very poor wet weather form during wet races in mid-season curtailed his title bid along with no wins in the dry until the season-ending race in Valencia. Rossi has been the most consistent title challenger, yet he has crashed out of three races up until Márquez's decisive victory in Japan. The Yamaha team has suffered a severe win drought from June onwards, going eight races without a win before Márquez has clinched the title. The drought reached ten races before Lorenzo's Valencian triumph, in his final race for the manufacturer before his move to Ducati in. Rossi has clinched the runner-up position by 16 points from Lorenzo, while their performances earned Yamaha the teams' championship, although Honda won the manufacturers' championship. The only rookie in this season was Tito Rabat – who clinched the rookie of the year award. LCR Honda rider, Cal Crutchlow, achieved the top independent rider award; winning races at Brno and Phillip Island and finished in 7th place in the championship with 141 points. Ducati and Suzuki both have won at least one race during the season, with Ducati's first win marking the first non Yamaha or Honda win for six years.
The 2016 season saw numerous records in regards to race winners. Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller, Andrea Iannone and Maverick Viñales each won their first races in the premier class, the first time that four new winners had emerged in a MotoGP season. Between the Italian Grand Prix in May and the San Marino Grand Prix in September, eight riders – Lorenzo, Rossi, Miller, Márquez, Iannone, Crutchlow, Viñales and Dani Pedrosa – won in eight successive races, surpassing the previous record of seven, between the 1999 Imola Grand Prix and the 2000 South African Grand Prix. With a win for Andrea Dovizioso in Malaysia further adding to the tally, the total of nine winners was also a record for a single premier class season, surpassing the previous record of eight in the season. This season also marked the first non-factory teams to win a race since the 2006 season, including Miller and Crutchlow.
2016 Grand Prix season calendar
The following Grands Prix were scheduled to take place in 2016:| Round | Date | Grand Prix | Circuit |
| 1 | 20 March ‡ |  Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar | Losail International Circuit |
| 2 | 3 April |  Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina | Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo |
| 3 | 10 April |  Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas | Circuit of the Americas |
| 4 | 24 April |  Gran Premio Red Bull de España | Circuito de Jerez |
| 5 | 8 May |  Monster Energy Grand Prix de France | Bugatti Circuit |
| 6 | 22 May |  Gran Premio d'Italia TIM | Mugello Circuit |
| 7 | 5 June |  Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya |
| 8 | 26 June |  Motul TT Assen | TT Circuit Assen |
| 9 | 17 July |  GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland | Sachsenring |
| 10 | 14 August |  NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich | Red Bull Ring |
| 11 | 21 August |  HJC Helmets Grand Prix České republiky | Brno Circuit |
| 12 | 4 September |  Octo British Grand Prix | Silverstone Circuit |
| 13 | 11 September |  Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli |
| 14 | 25 September |  Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón | Motorland Aragón |
| 15 | 16 October |  Motul Grand Prix of Japan | Twin Ring Motegi |
| 16 | 23 October |  Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix | Phillip Island Circuit |
| 17 | 30 October |  Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix | Sepang International Circuit |
| 18 | 13 November |  Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana | Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
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
;Notes: Team changes
Riders' standings;Scoring systemPoints are awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider has to finish the race to earn points.
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