The 2016 FIM Moto3 World Championship was a part of the 68th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Danny Kent was the reigning series champion but did not defend his title as he joined the series' intermediate class, Moto2.

The riders' championship title was won by Ajo Motorsport rider Brad Binder, after a second-place finish at the Aragon Grand Prix gave him an unassailable lead over his title rivals with four races remaining.^[1] Binder, who finished each of the first seven races on the podium, took the championship lead after the second race in Argentina,^[2] and took his first Grand Prix victory at the Spanish Grand Prix – starting from 35th on the grid.^[3] With four additional wins prior to Aragon, Binder was never headed in the championship thereafter to become South Africa's third world motorcycle racing champion,^[4] after Kork Ballington and Jon Ekerold.^[1] Binder took two further victories before the end of the season, in Australia and Valencia, en route to an eventual championship winning margin of 142 points over his next closest competitor. Compared to Binder's seven wins, no other rider was able to take more than two, with eight fellow riders taking at least one win during the 2016 season.

A fourth-place finish in Valencia sealed the runner-up position for Gresini Racing's Enea Bastianini. Despite missing two races through injury and a slow start to the season, Bastianini then achieved six podium finishes in nine races, including his only win of the season in Japan.^[5] Five riders were also in position to take third place at the finale; top Mahindra rider Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Navarro and a trio of rookie riders also battling for Rookie of the Year honours, Nicolò Bulega, Joan Mir and Fabio Di Giannantonio. Bagnaia was taken out of the race by Gabriel Rodrigo, with a ninth-place finish for Navarro allowing him to take third position by five points. Both riders took two victories during the season; Navarro winning in Catalonia and Aragon,^[4][6] with Bagnaia doing so at Assen and Malaysia, the first wins for Mahindra at Grand Prix level.^[7][8] Mir and Di Giannantonio battled on-track in Valencia for the top rookie position, which ultimately went to Mir, as he finished second to Di Giannatonio's fifth position.^[9] Mir won the Austrian Grand Prix,^[10] one of two rookies to win during 2016.

Four other riders won races during the season; the other rookie winner Khairul Idham Pawi took two wet-weather victories in Argentina and Germany,^[11] becoming the first rider from Malaysia to win at World Championship level.^[12] Single race wins went to Romano Fenati in Austin,^[13] before a mid-season dismissal from Valentino Rossi's team,^[14] Niccolò Antonelli won the season-opening race in a photo-finish in Qatar,^[15] while John McPhee took his, and Peugeot's, first Grand Prix win in wet conditions at Brno.^[16] With nine wins during the campaign, KTM won their fourth Moto3 constructors' title in five years, finishing 32 points clear of Honda, with six wins. All four full-season manufacturers took at least one win.

Changes for 2016

• French oil and gas giants company Total was selected to become official fuel supplier of Moto2 and Moto3 beginning from 2016 onwards, replacing Eni after five seasons as a fuel supplier of Moto2 and Moto3.^[17]

Calendar

The following Grands Prix took place in 2016.^[18]

Round	Date	Grand Prix	Circuit
1	20 March ‡	Commercial Bank Grand Prix of Qatar	Losail International Circuit, Lusail
2	3 April	Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina	Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo, Termas de Río Hondo
3	10 April	Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas	Circuit of the Americas, Austin
4	24 April	Gran Premio Red Bull de España	Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera
5	8 May	Monster Energy Grand Prix de France	Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans
6	22 May	Gran Premio d'Italia TIM	Mugello Circuit, Scarperia e San Piero
7	5 June	Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló
8	26 June	Motul TT Assen	TT Circuit Assen, Assen
9	17 July	GoPro Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland	Sachsenring, Hohenstein-Ernstthal
10	14 August	NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg
11	21 August	HJC Helmets Grand Prix České republiky	Brno Circuit, Brno
12	4 September	Octo British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone
13	11 September	Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini	Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, Misano Adriatico
14	25 September	Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón	MotorLand Aragón, Alcañiz
15	16 October	Motul Grand Prix of Japan	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi
16	23 October	Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Phillip Island
17	30 October	Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang
18	13 November	Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana	Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia

‡ = Night race

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.^[18]
• 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.^[18]
• Having been on the calendar since 2008, the Indianapolis Grand Prix was taken off the calendar.^[19]

Teams and riders

A provisional entry list was announced on 7 November 2015.^[20] All teams used Dunlop tyres.

Team Constructor Motorcycle No. Rider Rounds CIP-Unicom Starker Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 3 Fabio Spiranelli[21] 1–17 24 Tatsuki Suzuki[21] All 99 Enzo Boulom[22] 18 Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda Honda NSF250RW 4 Fabio Di Giannantonio[20] All 33 Enea Bastianini[20] 1–4, 6–16, 18 71 Ayumu Sasaki[23] 17 Sky Racing Team VR46 KTM KTM RC250GP 5 Romano Fenati[24] 1–10 8 Nicolò Bulega[24] All 16 Andrea Migno[24] All 48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta[14] 12–18 MH6 Laglisse MH6 Team KTM KTM RC250GP 6 María Herrera[25] 1–17 31 Raúl Fernández[22] 18 Drive M7 SIC Racing Team Honda[26] Honda NSF250RW 7 Adam Norrodin[27] All 84 Jakub Kornfeil[27] All Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda Honda NSF250RW 09 Jorge Navarro[28] 1–7, 9–18 44 Arón Canet[28] All 48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta[29] 8 Peugeot MC Saxoprint KRM-RZT Peugeot[30] Peugeot MGP3O 10 Alexis Masbou[31] 1–9 12 Albert Arenas[32] 10–18 17 John McPhee[33] 1–16 38 Hafiq Azmi[34] 17 63 Vicente Pérez[22] 18 KTM KTM RC250GP 97 Maximilian Kappler[35] 9 RW Racing GP Honda Honda NSF250RW 11 Livio Loi[20] All MRW Mahindra Aspar Team Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 12 Albert Arenas[36] 4, 7 Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3 Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra Team Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 12 Albert Arenas[37] 8[a] 21 Francesco Bagnaia[38] All 88 Jorge Martín[39] All[a] UQ & Teluru Kohara RT Honda TSR3 Honda 13 Shizuka Okazaki[40] 15 Suus Honda FTR Honda FTR M316 14 Matt Barton[41] 16 41 Planning IodaRacing Japan Honda TSR3 Honda 15 Rei Sato[40] 15 Motomex Team Worldwide Race Platinum Bay Real Estate Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 18 Gabriel Martínez-Ábrego[42] 14 22 Danny Webb[43] 8–9 40 Darryn Binder[20] All 42 Marcos Ramírez[44] 10–18 98 Karel Hanika[20] 1–7 RBA Racing Team KTM KTM RC250GP 19 Gabriel Rodrigo[45] All 58 Juan Francisco Guevara[45] All Leopard Racing KTM[46] KTM RC250GP 20 Fabio Quartararo[47] All 36 Joan Mir[48] All 55 Andrea Locatelli[49] All Ongetta–Rivacold Honda Honda NSF250RW 23 Niccolò Antonelli[50] All 95 Jules Danilo[20] All GA Competition KTM KTM RC250GP 26 Daniel Sáez[22] 18 Freudenberg Racing Team KTM KTM RC250GP 27 Tim Georgi[35] 9 98 Karel Hanika[51] 11, 18 Procercasa - 42 Motorsport KTM KTM RC250GP 37 Davide Pizzoli[36] 4–7 99 Enzo Boulom[36] 4–5 Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM KTM RC250GP 41 Brad Binder[52] All 64 Bo Bendsneyder[53] All 3570 Team Italia Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 43 Stefano Valtulini[20] All 77 Lorenzo Petrarca[54] All Schedl GP Racing KTM KTM RC250GP 48 Lorenzo Dalla Porta[55] 6 65 Philipp Öttl[20] 1–5, 7–18 Mahindra Racing Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 53 Marco Bezzecchi[56] 10, 12 62 Stefano Manzi[56] 10, 12–13 Minimoto Portomaggiore Mahindra Mahindra MGP3O 71 Alex Fabbri[57] 13 Honda Team Asia Honda Honda NSF250RW 76 Hiroki Ono[20] 1–7, 9–18 89 Khairul Idham Pawi[20] All

Key Regular rider Wildcard rider Replacement rider

Rider changes

• Joan Mir, Andrea Locatelli, and Fabio Quartararo joined Leopard Racing, filling seat vacated by Danny Kent and Efrén Vázquez who moved up to Moto2 and Hiroki Ono joining Honda Team Asia.
• 2015 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion, Bo Bendsneyder made his Moto3 debut with Red Bull KTM Ajo, filling the seat vacated by Miguel Oliveira who moved up to Moto2.
• Karel Hanika rode for Platinum Bay Real Estate, replacing Alessandro Tonucci moves to Moto2. After Catalan GP, Hanika left and replaced by Danny Webb for 2 rounds. Later, replaced by Marcos Ramírez for the rest of season.
• Fabio Spiranelli made his Moto3 debut, joining CIP. Replacing Remy Gardner who moved up to Moto2.
• Fabio Di Giannantonio made his Moto3 debut, joining Gresini Racing after riding for them as a replacement for Andrea Locatelli in the 2015 Valencia GP.
• After 2015 season as wildcard in Valencia, Nicolò Bulega made his Moto3 debut, joining Sky Racing Team VR46.
• Adam Norrodin rode for SIC Racing Team, replacing Zulfahmi Khairuddin.
• Arón Canet made his Moto3 debut, joining Estrella Galicia 0,0.
• Juan Francisco Guevara joined RBA Racing Team, replacing both Isaac Viñales moved to Moto2 and Ana Carrasco left the team.
• Khairul Idham Pawi made his Moto3 debut, joining Honda Team Asia.
• Both Stefano Valtulini and Lorenzo Petrarca rode for 3570 Team Italia, filling seat vacated by both Stefano Manzi and Manuel Pagliani.

Notes

Results and standings

Grands Prix

Round	Grand Prix	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning rider	Winning team	Winning constructor	Report
1	Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix	Romano Fenati	Livio Loi	Niccolò Antonelli	Ongetta–Rivacold	Honda	Report
2	Argentine Republic motorcycle Grand Prix	Brad Binder	Joan Mir	Khairul Idham Pawi	Honda Team Asia	Honda	Report
3	Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas	Philipp Öttl	Romano Fenati	Romano Fenati	Sky Racing Team VR46	KTM	Report
4	Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix	Nicolò Bulega	Brad Binder	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
5	French motorcycle Grand Prix	Niccolò Antonelli	Arón Canet	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
6	Italian motorcycle Grand Prix	Romano Fenati	Juan Francisco Guevara	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
7	Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix	Brad Binder	Romano Fenati	Jorge Navarro	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	Report
8	Dutch TT	Enea Bastianini	Arón Canet	Francesco Bagnaia	Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3	Mahindra	Report
9	German motorcycle Grand Prix	Enea Bastianini	Khairul Idham Pawi	Khairul Idham Pawi	Honda Team Asia	Honda	Report
10	Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix	Joan Mir	Philipp Öttl	Joan Mir	Leopard Racing	KTM	Report
11	Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix	Brad Binder	Brad Binder	John McPhee	Peugeot MC Saxoprint	Peugeot	Report
12	British motorcycle Grand Prix	Francesco Bagnaia	Nicolò Bulega	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
13	San Marino and Rimini Riviera motorcycle Grand Prix	Brad Binder	Andrea Locatelli	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
14	Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix	Enea Bastianini	Juan Francisco Guevara	Jorge Navarro	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	Report
15	Japanese motorcycle Grand Prix	Hiroki Ono[N 1]	Nicolò Bulega	Enea Bastianini	Gresini Racing Moto3	Honda	Report
16	Australian motorcycle Grand Prix	Brad Binder	Andrea Locatelli	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report
17	Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix	Brad Binder	Joan Mir	Francesco Bagnaia	Pull & Bear Aspar Mahindra Team	Mahindra	Report
18	Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix	Arón Canet	Brad Binder	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	Report

Riders' standings

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top fifteen finishers. A rider had to finish the race to earn points.

Pos Rider Bike QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL Pts 1 Brad Binder KTM 2 3 3 1 1 1 2 12 8 2 Ret 1 1 2 2 1 17 1 319 2 Enea Bastianini Honda 5 17 6 8 12 3 Ret 3 3 4 7 2 3 1 Ret 4 177 3 Jorge Navarro Honda 7 2 2 4 3 Ret 1 7 Ret 10 Ret Ret 1 Ret Ret Ret 9 150 4 Francesco Bagnaia Mahindra 3 23 14 3 12 3 Ret 1 10 11 Ret 2 21 16 6 Ret 1 Ret 145 5 Joan Mir KTM 12 5 Ret 6 25 7 8 8 Ret 1 8 9 3 5 9 Ret Ret 2 144 6 Fabio Di Giannantonio Honda 26 25 17 Ret 17 2 9 2 5 8 3 6 10 4 5 Ret 15 5 134 7 Nicolò Bulega KTM 6 18 10 2 5 8 5 7 Ret 9 9 5 4 Ret 3 Ret Ret 17 129 8 Jakub Kornfeil Honda 10 9 11 5 9 17 10 13 4 19 6 15 5 Ret 13 Ret 2 7 112 9 Andrea Locatelli KTM 21 4 5 Ret 10 Ret 19 Ret 2 13 Ret 14 6 17 Ret 2 5 20 96 10 Romano Fenati KTM 4 20 1 7 2 Ret 4 4 18 DNS 93 11 Niccolò Antonelli Honda 1 10 Ret Ret 8 4 20 5 DNS 18 5 DSQ 11 14 10 Ret 12 16 91 12 Philipp Öttl KTM 9 15 4 10 Ret 17 11 17 5 15 12 8 10 4 14 Ret 8 85 13 Fabio Quartararo KTM 13 13 13 Ret 6 5 7 Ret 23 4 21 Ret 18 12 8 12 4 14 83 14 Bo Bendsneyder KTM 14 22 22 21 16 18 11 9 12 7 7 3 Ret 15 18 10 3 13 78 15 Arón Canet Honda 15 Ret 7 Ret 4 Ret 6 Ret 15 21 Ret 8 7 7 Ret 3 Ret 19 76 16 Jorge Martín Mahindra Ret 8 Ret Ret 18 14 Ret DNS Ret 6 2 10 DNS 6 Ret 6 Ret 10 72 17 Andrea Migno KTM 17 29 15 11 7 10 18 3 Ret 25 12 29 15 11 24 Ret Ret 3 63 18 Livio Loi Honda 8 16 8 17 11 16 16 15 14 10 14 20 13 18 7 5 9 15 63 19 Khairul Idham Pawi Honda 22 1 20 14 14 Ret Ret Ret 1 27 Ret 22 22 22 19 Ret 8 25 62 20 Jules Danilo Honda 11 26 9 9 Ret 11 Ret 6 9 16 11 13 14 19 16 9 Ret 26 58 21 Juan Francisco Guevara KTM 25 12 12 12 13 9 13 Ret Ret 12 23 16 12 9 25 Ret Ret 6 50 22 John McPhee Peugeot 27 7 21 Ret 20 23 15 16 6 24 1 17 20 13 Ret Ret 48 23 Hiroki Ono Honda 18 6 25 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 15 20 19 9 20 DSQ 8 DNS 21 36 24 Gabriel Rodrigo KTM 19 19 18 13 Ret 13 Ret Ret 13 Ret 17 11 Ret 8 Ret Ret 7 Ret 31 25 Darryn Binder Mahindra 23 30 Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 17 Ret 17 Ret 21 Ret 26 22 4 10 12 27 26 Marcos Ramírez Mahindra 26 18 Ret Ret 27 17 7 6 Ret 19 27 Tatsuki Suzuki Mahindra 28 27 19 15 15 19 14 Ret 11 Ret 13 25 Ret 21 15 13 Ret 18 16 28 Adam Norrodin Honda 20 11 Ret 16 Ret 22 Ret 19 Ret 23 Ret 23 23 23 12 11 Ret 27 14 29 Stefano Manzi Mahindra 20 4 16 13 30 Lorenzo Dalla Porta KTM 15 18 17 25 11 19 16 Ret 12 Honda 10 31 María Herrera KTM 16 14 23 19 21 21 Ret 14 DNS 14 19 26 Ret 28 23 15 NC 7 32 Raúl Fernández KTM 11 5 33 Hafiq Azmi Peugeot 11 5 34 Stefano Valtulini Mahindra 29 28 Ret DNS 22 24 Ret 18 20 28 Ret Ret 26 Ret Ret Ret 13 31 3 35 Albert Arenas Mahindra 18 Ret Ret 2 Peugeot 22 Ret Ret 19 24 14 16 Ret 24 36 Lorenzo Petrarca Mahindra 31 31 24 Ret 24 25 22 20 Ret 30 24 28 24 29 21 17 14 28 2 37 Alexis Masbou Peugeot 24 21 16 Ret 19 Ret Ret Ret 16 0 38 Karel Hanika Mahindra 30 24 Ret Ret Ret 20 Ret 0 KTM 16 22 39 Fabio Spiranelli Mahindra 32 32 26 23 23 Ret 21 21 DNS 29 22 27 25 Ret 20 18 DNS 0 40 Maximilian Kappler KTM 19 0 41 Matt Barton FTR Honda 20 0 42 Davide Pizzoli KTM 20 DNS DNS Ret 0 43 Tim Georgi KTM 21 0 44 Danny Webb Mahindra 22 22 0 45 Enzo Boulom KTM 22 Ret 0 Mahindra 30 46 Vicente Pérez Peugeot 23 0 47 Marco Bezzecchi Mahindra Ret 24 0 48 Shizuka Okazaki Honda 26 0 49 Daniel Sáez KTM 29 0 50 Gabriel Martínez-Ábrego Mahindra 30 0 Ayumu Sasaki Honda Ret 0 Alex Fabbri Mahindra Ret 0 Rei Sato Honda DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap Light blue – Rookie

Constructors' standings

Each constructor received the same number of points as their best placed rider in each race.

Pos	Manufacturer	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	Pts
1	KTM	2	3	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	1	7	1	1	2	2	1	3	1	382
2	Honda	1	1	2	4	3	2	1	2	1	3	3	6	2	1	1	3	2	4	350
3	Mahindra	3	8	14	3	12	3	12	1	10	6	2	2	16	6	6	4	1	10	211
4	Peugeot	24	7	16	Ret	19	23	15	16	6	22	1	17	19	13	14	16	11	23	55
	FTR Honda																20			0
Pos	Manufacturer	QAT	ARG	AME	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GER	AUT	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	Pts