2016 MotoGP Preview Part Two: The Wild Cards And The Rest

For the first time in a long time, there's a big question mark going into the new MotoGP season. That's because no one is sure if the old guard (a.k.a. the aliens at Movistar Yamaha and Repsol Honda) can hold off some new challengers under the new rules of a spec ECU. (Click here for 2016 MotoGP Preview Part 1: The Usual Suspects.)

One that tops the list is Team Suzuki Ecstar's Maverick Viñales. The former Moto3 Champion has shown great speed, topping the Phillip Island test and ending the final test at Qatar in third.

But again, it’s just testing. So until Viñales can get it done on race day, he remains a question mark. While Viñales shines his teammate, Aleix Espargaro, was plagued with crashes. Even so, the Suzuki looks to be in good shape in the new era of MotoGP. Supposedly, the engine still needs some more work, but Viñales felt that the new seamless-gearbox had a lot of potential. Time will tell if Viñales and Suzuki will be a real player in ’16.

Duc Season?

The other big wild card, or wild cards, plural, are the Ducatis, factory or otherwise. Ducati has upped its commitment to eight bikes on the grid, so there are more Ducs to battle with in '16.

Pre-season testing saw mixed results for factory riders, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone. More often than not, the B-team Ducatis showed them up. While it might be a bit embarrassing for the factory squad if the satellite riders upstage them, but Ducati Boss Luigi “Gigi” Dall’Igna is happy with the extra help he was looking for in developing Ducati’s GP machine.

The strongest of the satellite teams was Octo Pramac Yakhnich Ducati's Danilo Petrucci and Scott Redding, with Petrucci having a strong showing early at Sepang and Redding finding his stride at Qatar. Both of them are big unknown quantities, in the wet they could be even bigger forces to reckon with as seen last season with Petrucci's stand out finish at Silverstone and Redding's bold move to stay on slicks at last year's bizarre flag-to-flag race at Misano.

Also closing the gap and putting forth some impressive results was Avintia Ducati’s Hector Barbera.

The Rest

Being upstaged by the B teams is not new. Honda and Yamaha’s satellite times have done so in the past, especially during testing. But where will they stack up to the horde of Ducatis?

LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow has also put on a good showing during testing. You also never know where Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith will line up. If it's raining or mixed conditions, Smith certainly is a force to be reckoned with.

There are also some new Honda B-team guys, or at least new guys outside of the open class: rookie Tito Rabat and Jack Miller on the Marc VDS squad.

Team Aspar made the switch from Honda to Ducati, and Eugene Laverty has started to feel at home on the Ducati. Laverty is joined by Colombian Yonny Hernandez, who formerly rode for the Pramac team. Loris Baz, also made the switch to Ducati after Forward Racing Yamaha left the GP paddock. The Frenchman joins Barbera on the Avintia Ducati squad.

Rounding out the GP lineup is Aprilia with Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista. The RS-GP is in early stages yet and there are little expectations in its early stage of development, especially after missing the first two official tests of 2016.