The final Grand Prix of a unique and thrilling 2016 MotoGP season takes place this weekend at Valencia, where Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V) will ride in front of his home fans for the first time since securing his third MotoGP Riders World Championship at last month’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The weekend also marks the return of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V), who was injured during Japanese GP practice and missed the subsequent Australian and Malaysian rounds.

This has been an historic MotoGP season with nine different race winners – an all-time record in 67 years of Grand Prix racing. Marquez has scored more victories than anyone else, with five wins so far, and he will be out to make that six on Sunday. A good season finale is especially important because Honda needs a few more points to make sure of a record-breaking 22nd Constructors World Championship in the premier-class. Also, the Repsol Honda Team needs a great result to retake the lead in the Teams World Championship from the factory Yamaha squad.

In many ways this has been Marquez’s greatest MotoGP campaign, the 23-year-old dominating a season complicated by important technical changes – a switch to a unified electronics software and Michelin tyres. Thus riders and engineers had to go racing while adjusting to this new technical environment. Marquez’s extraordinary natural talent allowed him to ride around any issues, so that he was the only rider to score points at each and every round, at least until after he wrapped up the title at Twin Ring Motegi.

After that perfect run of 15 points-scoring finishes, Marquez tumbled out of the lead in Australia and slid off during the wet Malaysian GP, remounting to finish 11th, running a similar pace to winner Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati). The Spaniard has a good record at Valencia: he won the 2012 Moto2 race (from the back of the grid) and the 2014 MotoGP race. Last year he finished a close second and this year he will mark his 150th Grand Prix, since his debut in the 125cc class at Estoril, Portugal, in 2008.

Pedrosa had a difficult start to MotoGP’s new technical era but came on strong in the second half of the season, after making important set-up changes during the post-Czech GP tests at Brno. He finished just off the podium at the British GP and scored his first victory of 2016 at the subsequent San Marino round. Two races later at Motegi he was sidelined by a crash that left him nursing a broken right collarbone, left fibula and toe.

During his absence, Pedrosa’s bikes were raced by Nicky Hayden in Australia and Hiroshi Aoyama in Japan and Malaysia. This weekend the 31-year-old hopes to be able to return to racing almost fully competitive. Pedrosa scored one of his first GP wins at Valencia – in the 125cc class way back in 2002 – and followed that up with 250cc victories in 2004 and 2005 and MotoGP successes in 2007, 2009 and 2012. Last year he finished third, just a fraction of a second behind Marquez.

For top independent-team rider Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda RC213V) this has been a breakthrough season. In August the Briton won his first MotoGP race at a damp Brno and he backed that up with a stunning win in the dry at Phillip Island, brilliantly resisting pressure from nine-times World Champion Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). Two weeks ago at Sepang he was once again in the lead group, until he tumbled just after half-distance. His best finish at Valencia is a fourth in 2011, his rookie season. Last year he finished in ninth place.

Jack Miller (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) took a well-deserved eighth-place finish at Sepang, his third top-ten finish since he won his first MotoGP race at Assen in June. The young Australian is a former winner at Valencia – he won the Moto3 race at the track in 2014.

Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda RC213V) is another Honda MotoGP rider who has been victorious at the Valencia circuit, named after the late Ricardo Tormo, local hero and 50cc World Champion in 1978 and 1981. Rabat won last year’s Valencia Moto2 race and will be hoping for another good ride this Sunday at the end of what has been a challenging rookie MotoGP campaign.

Although Sunday’s racing concludes the 2016 MotoGP season, the paddock gets little chance to relax afterwards, with the traditional post-season Valencia test taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday. Riders and teams get their break during the winter testing moratorium which runs from December 1st until the first tests of 2017 get underway at Sepang, Malaysia, on January 30th.




Marc Marquez  - 93

“It has been good coming back home after the three flyaway races with the title already won, and to celebrate it with all my family and friends. I had the chance to chill out a bit and get back to my usual training, both indoors in the gym and outdoors with some motocross and cycling. ‘Thanks’ to the jetlag, I had the opportunity to enjoy some really spectacular dawns on my bicycle! Anyway, the season isn’t over yet, as we’ll race in Valencia on Sunday, and after that we’ll have two important days of testing. Our target for the race is of course to try and finish on a high in front of our fans, possibly with a win or at least a podium. It is good to see that Dani is getting better and to know he’ll be back in Valencia.”

Dani Pedrosa 26

“These past three weeks haven’t been easy because of the pain, especially immediately after the operation, and also because I missed racing at some of my favourite tracks. Anyway, after I started with my rehab, things began getting better day-by-day, and the thought of trying to recover in time for Valencia was a boost that helped during the tougher moments. We’re still not sure about how I’ll feel on the bike, but anyway I’m happy to be able to get back to racing! I love the Valencia track, I have fantastic memories here and I like the idea of getting back to action in front of my fans.”


Cal Crutchlow - 35 - LCR Honda

“Valencia is a track that I’m targeting for a great result. I don’t love the track there but there are parts of it which suit my style and parts of it which suit our bike. It’s the last race of the season so everyone’s going to be all out, I can tell you that. The last race in Sepang was disappointing but we have to be happy with the three flyaway races.”

Jack Miller - 43 - EG 0,0 Marc VDS

“It’s been good to get back to my base in Andorra after a pretty hectic overseas trip and have some time to get back out on the bicycle again, which I’ve missed. I can take a lot of positives from the last two races in Australia and Malaysia and I’m looking forward to this weekend in Valencia, where I’m keen to finish the season on a high note before getting back to testing on Tuesday ready for the 2017 season.”

Tito Rabat - 53 -EG 0,0 Marc VDS 

“Valencia is always a track that has given me a good feeling and it was special to finish my time in Moto2 last year with a victory. It is going to be interesting to understand the progress we have made because it was in Valencia one year ago when I did my first proper test on a MotoGP machine. I hope to go there and be competitive and finish the season with a decent result to take into the winter. I think the Honda will work well in Valencia now because the bike has become more manageable. Like always I will be giving my maximum and trying to put on a good show for the fans.”