The provisional entry lists for the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 have been released just as we come to the end of the 2016 season; ahead of the finale at Valencia. There have been a lot of changes; some are leaving us, some are moving up, some are simply switching tams and some will be brand new, and hopefully this will help you to get your head around it all…
Start with the MotoGP
Blame can arguably be put on Movistar Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo for all off this confusion and commotion as it seems it was his decision to move to the Ducati Team next season that sparked it all. At the beginning of the season when contracts were being renewed, as many decided to stay put, he decided to go.
As a result, three riders are leaving, we welcome back an old face and four new ones and there are seven more riders changing teams. Those marked (R) will be completing their rookie season in that class.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Team | Machinery | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Italy | Ducati Team | Ducati | |
| 5 | Johann Zarco (R) | French | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | Moving up to MotoGP after winning championship from Moto2 AGR Team |
| 8 | Hector Barbera | Spain | Avintia Racing | Ducati | More modern machinery |
| 9 | Danilo Petrucci | Italy | Octo Pramac Yakhnich | Ducati | Chance of more modern machinery |
| 17 | Karel Abraham | Czech Republic | Pull & Bear Aspar | Ducati | Returning to MotoGp in place of Yonny Hernandez |
| 19 | Alvaro Bautista | Spain | Pull & Bear Aspar | Ducati | Moved from Aprilia to Aspar in place of Eugene Laverty |
| 22 | Sam Lowes (R) | GBR | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | Moving up to MotoGP with Gresini from Federal OIl Gresini Moto2 |
| 25 | Maverick Vinales | Spain | Movistar Yamaha | Yamaha | Moved from Suzuki to Yamaha in place of Lorenzo |
| 26 | Dani Pedrosa | Spain | Repsol Honda | Honda | |
| 29 | Andrea Iannone | Italy | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | Moved from Ducati to make room for Lorenzo, going to Suzuki in place of Vinales/Aleix Espargaro |
| 35 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | LCR Honda | Honda | |
| 38 | Bradley Smith | GBR | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | Moving to new factory team from Monster Tech 3 Yamaha |
| 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Spain | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | Moved from Suzuki to Aprilia in place of Bradl and Bautista |
| 42 | Alex Rins (R) | Spain | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki | Moved up from Moto2 from Paginas Amarillas HP 40 in place of Aleix Espargaro/Vinales |
| 43 | Jack Miller | Australia | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | |
| 44 | Pol Espargaro | Spain | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | Moved to factory team from moster Yamaha Tech 3 |
| 45 | Scott Redding | GBR | Octo Pramac Yakhncih | Ducati | Chance of more modern machinery |
| 46 | Valentino Rossi | Italy | Movistar Yamaha | ||
| 53 | Tito Rabat | Spain | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Honda | |
| 76 | Loris Baz | France | Avintia Racing | Ducati | |
| 93 | Marc Marquez | Spain | Repsol Honda | Honda | |
| 94 | Jonas Folger (R) | Germany | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | Moved uo from Dynavolt Intact GP in Moto2 in place of Smith/Pol Espargaro |
| 99 | Jorge Lorenzo | Spain | Ducati Team | Ducati | Moved from Movistar Yamaha to Ducati |
In the MotoGP class we will be saying goodbye at the end of the season to Eugene Laverty (Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati) and Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who will be making their return to the World Superbikes. Yonny Hernandez (Pull & Bear Aspar Ducati) will also be returning to the Moto2 class.
Changes to the Moto2 line-up
The Moto2 class will see the most changes provisionally in the 2017 season. After the four have been promoted to the MotoGP class and one rider demoted, there are two new faces, Tetsuta Nagashima and Axel Bassini, and six riders will be rookies as they are promoted up from the Moto3 class. There are also nine team changes to replace those who have moved elsewhere.
It seems that Ratthapark Wilairot (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Robin Mulhauser (CarXpert interwetten) will not be joining the 600cc class next season as they have not been allocated anwhere.
| No. | Name | Nationality | Team | Machine | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jesko Raffin | Switzerland | CarXpert Interwetten | Kalex | Moved from Sports-Millions-EWME-SAG |
| 5 | Andrea Locatelli | Italy | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | Moved up from Moto3 from Leopard Racing as additional rider |
| 7 | Lorenzo Baldassari | Italy | Forward Team | Kalex | |
| 9 | Jorge Navarro | Spain | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | Moved up from in place of Sam Lowes from EG 0,0 |
| 10 | Luca Marini | Italy | Forward Team | Kalex | |
| 11 | Sandro Cortese | Germany | Dynavolt Intact GP | Suter | Changed from Kalex to Suter |
| 12 | Thomas Luthi | Switzerland | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | |
| 19 | Xavier Simeon | Belgium | Tasca Racing Scuderia | Kalex | Change from QMMF Racing (Speed Up) |
| 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Italy | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | |
| 23 | Marcel Schrotter | Germany | Dynavolt Intact GP | Suter | Change from Kalex to Suter |
| 24 | Simone Corsi | Italy | Speed Up | Speed Up | |
| 27 | Iker Lecuona | Spain | CarXpert Interwetten | Kalex | Replaced Dominique Aegerter during 2016 |
| 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Japan | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | Kalex | |
| 32 | Isaac Vinales | Spain | SAG Team | Kalex | Moved from Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) |
| 40 | Fabio Quartararo (R) | France | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | Kalex | Moved up from Moto3 in place of Alex Rins |
| 41 | Brad Binder (R) | South Africa | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 2016 Moto3 Champion moved up to new Moto2 team for 2017 |
| 42 | Francesco Bagnaia (R) | Italy | Sky Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | Moved up from Moto3 to new Moto2 team |
| 44 | Miguel Oliveira | Portugal | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | Moving from Leopard Racing (Kalex to KTM) |
| 45 | Tetsuta Nagashima (R) | Japan | Teluru SAG Team | Kalex | New to Moto2 with new team |
| 47 | Axel Bassani (R) | Italy | Speed Up | Speed Up | New to Moto2 as additional rider |
| 49 | Axel Pons | Spain | RW Racing GP | Kalex | Switch from AGR Team |
| 52 | Danny Kent | GBR | Kiefer Racing | Suter | Moving from Leopard Racing (Kalex) |
| 54 | Mattia Pasini | Italy | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | |
| 55 | Hafizh Syahrin | Malaysia | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | Kalex | |
| 57 | Edgar Pons | Spain | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | Kalex | |
| 62 | Stefano Manzi | Italy | Sky Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | Moving to new team, made wildcard appearances in 2016 |
| 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Colombia | AGR Team | Kalex | Demoted from MotoGP replacing Axel Pons |
| 73 | Alex Marquez | Spain | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | |
| 77 | Dominique Aegerter | Switzerland | Kiefer Racing | Suter | Returning after sacked, moving to new team from CarXpert Interwetten |
| 87 | Remy Gardner | Australia | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | Moving from Tasca Scuderia Moto2 (Kalex) |
| 89 | Khairul Idham Pawi (R) | Malaysia | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | Kalex | Moving up from Moto3 replacing Ratthapark Wilairot |
| 97 | Xavi Vierge | Spain | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 |
The entry list so far for the 2017 Moto3 class
The Moto3 class will be saying farewell to six riders who will become rookies in the Moto2 class, however they will be welciming six new riders in place of them. The changes are still happening and probably will continue to do so up until the next season gets underway.
Riders missing from the Moto3 line-up so far include Hiroki Ono (Honda Team Asia), Fabio Spiranelli (CIP-Unicorn Starker) and 3570 Team Italia teammates Lorenzo Petrarca and Stefano Valtulini.
| No. | Name | Country | Team | Machine | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Patrick Pulkkinen | Finland | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Mahindra | Rookie replacing McPhee |
| 5 | Romano Fenati | Italy | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | Returning to Moto3 after he was sacked replacing Antonelli |
| 6 | Maria Herrera | Spain | AGR Team | KTM | Finally has a team after being without sponsor at her own MH6 Team |
| 7 | Adam Norrodin | Malaysia | SIC Racing Team | Honda | |
| 8 | Nicolo Bulega | Italy | Sky Racing Team VR46 | KTM | |
| 11 | Livio Loi | Belgium | Leopard Racing | Honda | Moving from RW Racing GP BV in place of Quartararo and Leopard switching to Honda |
| 12 | Albert Arenas | Spain | Aspar Team Moto3 | Mahindra | Moving from Peugeot MC Saxoprint |
| 14 | Tony Arbolino | Italy | SIC58 Squadra Corse | Honda | New rider and new team |
| 16 | Andrea Migno | Italy | Sky Racing Team VR46 | KTM | |
| 17 | John McPhee | GBR | GB Team | Honda | Moving to new team from Peugeot MC Saxoprint |
| 19 | Gabriel Rodrigo | Argentina | RBA Racing Team | ||
| 21 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Italy | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda | |
| 23 | Niccolo Antonelli | Italy | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | Moving from Ongetta-Rivacold |
| 24 | Tatsuki Suzuki | Japan | SIC50 Squadra Corse | Honda | Moving to new team from CIP-Unicorn Starker |
| 27 | Kaito Toba (R) | Japan | Honda Team Asia | Honda | New rider replacing Pawi |
| 33 | Enea Bastianini | Italy | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | Moving from Gresini Racing Moto3 replacing Navarro |
| 36 | Joan Mir | Spain | Leopard Racing | Honda | Leopard switching from KTM |
| 40 | Darryn Binder | South African | Platinum Bay Real Estate | KTM | Team switching from Mahindra to KTM |
| 41 | Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (R) | Thailand | Honda Team Asia | Honda | Replacing Hiroki Ono |
| 42 | Marcos Ramirez | Spain | Platinum Bay Real Estate | KTM | Team switching from Mahindra to KTM |
| 44 | Aron Canet | Spain | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | |
| 48 | Lorenzo Dalla Porta | Italy | Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra | Mahindra | Moving from Sky Racing Team VR46 |
| 53 | Marco Bezzecchi (R) | Italy | CIP-Unicorn Starker | Mahindra | New rider in place of Spiranelli/Suzuki |
| 58 | Juanfran Guevara | Spain | RBA Racing Team | KTM | |
| 64 | Bo Bendsneyder | Netherlands | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | |
| 65 | Philipp Oettl | Germany | Schedl GP Racing | KTM | |
| 71 | Ayumu Sasaki (R) | Japan | SIC Racing Team | Honda | Replacing Kornfeil (has made wildcard appearances) |
| 84 | Jakub Kornfeil | Czech Republic | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot | Moving from SIC Racing Team (Honda) |
| 88 | Jorge Martin | Spain | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda | Moving fromPull & Bear Aspar Mahindra replacing Bastianini |
| 95 | Jules Danilo | France | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | |
| 99 | Enzo Boulom (R) | France | CIP-Unicorn Starker | Mahindra | New rider in place of Spiranelli/Suzuki |
Remember, nothing is forever... it's just for now!