who do you think will win the 2017 championship?

Marquez, if he can win on the cluster .... of a bike from last year then he'll probably win this year where Honda *should've* sorted their acceleration woes out.

Marquez for me....I can't see Rossi winning his 10th title and I can't see Vinales winning the title in his first season with Yamaha,Pedrosa will never win a motogp crown,i hope Lorenzo goes well on the Ducati but i can't see him winning the title straight away with a new bike and Dovi has no chance whatsoever,nobody else has a chance of anything other than the odd victory.

pyeman said:

Marquez for me....I can't see Rossi winning his 10th title and I can't see Vinales winning the title in his first season with Yamaha,Pedrosa will never win a motogp crown,i hope Lorenzo goes well on the Ducati but i can't see him winning the title straight away with a new bike and Dovi has no chance whatsoever,nobody else has a chance of anything other than the odd victory.

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I don't see Vinaeles having the race craft to beat Lorenzo, Rossi and Marquez over the season to a title. I'm not saying he can't come second or third but in the past he's struggled to get past riders not in the top 3-4 guys league while being faster. Those 3 guys+ Pedrosa if he has a better year are infinitely harder to overtake and great at getting back past you quickly if they need to. To win Vinaeles needs to take off at the front and have a few seconds between himself and everyone else like he did in Silverstone and I don't think he will be able to do that in enough races to clinch a title. If it comes down to a battle between a few top guys for a win or podium I don't see him coming out on top very often.

Hoping for Lorenzo, but think it will be Marquez.

frizzle said:

Hoping for Lorenzo, but think it will be Marquez.

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Same with me.

Can't see Marquez losing unless Honda completely screw up their bike, and even in that eventuality he is a chance. Early indications seemed to be that the Honda bike would be better for the coming season rather than worse.

I'd be wary of making any firm pronouncements. Its a rather wacky sport.

2011 -
Favoured to win: Jorge Lorenzo;
Winner: Casey Stoner

2012 -
Favoured to win: Casey Stoner;
Winner: Jorge Lorenzo

2013 -
Favoured to win: Dani Pedrosa;
Winner: Marc Marquez

2014 -
Favoured to win: Marc Marquez (narrowly);
Winner: Marc Marquez (by a country mile)

2015 -
Favoured to win: Marc Marquez;
Winner: Jorge Lorenzo

2016 -
Favoured to win: Jorge Lorenzo;
Winner: Marc Marquez


Marquez is the obvious favourite this season and rightfully so but he's still a rather mercurial rider. Mid season he'd built up a sizeable points lead and was uncharacteristically willing to settle for points behind Rossi for four races in a row Austin to Misano. He wrapped up the title with two emphatic victories in Aragon & Japan but then flummoxed everyone by crashing in the next two races on an improved bike with zero pressure.

Over the season, Marquez finished ahead of Rossi in 8 races and behind the latter in the other 10. Had Rossi not DNFed at Mugello and had Marquez not brilliantly saved it in the Sachsenring gravel, the championship may have become quite... interesting.

Was Marquez overriding his bike to get where he did? Perhaps. But then he was on hard carcass tires that were particularly well suited to his wild hard braking style. And his two crashes at Philip Island & Sepang came while riding a sorted out bike.

Honda may take big stride forward this cycle but on the other hand Michelin may roll out tires with improved edge grip that would better suit the M1 & GSX-RR (and perhaps a certain #99).

So while Marquez is a good choice for a casual flutter, it'd be a bad idea to bet the house on him. I can't in all honesty say I would be shocked if he did crash out of a sure thing again or went from patient composed strategist to impulsive adrenaline junkie in the space of two laps à la Silverstone.

Also, he'll have some pretty healthy competition from the Yamaha stable. Rossi is faster than he's been in years while Vinales is filling in Lorenzo's boots nicely (though he still needs to work on his race-craft and race starts). The Ducatis as well as Iannone could also complicate the points table.

Should be an intriguing season.

MM for me.

he should always be the favorite, now more than ever if the bike is better.

The other...Maverick i guess (even though I don't like him, I've said it before, he is just too vanilla).

would like Dani and Jorge to do well.

But most off all...even though it was nice to see 9 winners last year...nicer wether. One or two wet races are enough.

i have to almost agree with everything jkant said. ive never considered marquez a safe bet tbh. imo the better the honda, the more dangerous it becomes for marquez in terms of championship, specially if he has close opponent. bear in mind even with all the mistake rossi made this season, 1 touch at aragon couldve ended marquez race (after his moment at start) and only one crash at that circuit at that time, then rossi would probably win the championship. and rossi looked stronger this year than 2015. ( lots of his consistency and point came from other ppls mistakes in 2015 )

but he is still the favorite. the big difference is yamaha is gonna have 1 championship contender and a wing man, aint gonna be like last few years. vinales is gonna win races but he aint gonna challenge for the championship yet but he is gonna cut marquez points, i wouldnt be surprised if there is some sort of team order at yamaha for the next 2 years and the mission would be to beat marc marquez, much like few years age when honda's (moto gp team) main objective was to beat valentino.

Finish line said:

But most off all...even though it was nice to see 9 winners last year...nicer wether. One or two wet races are enough.

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to me that was a bug with the tires, performance variations between different compound was ridiculous, there is almost no way its gonna happens again this year,

Marc Marquez

shaunna said:

True - and his strategy combined with his talent this year worked out for him. I'm interested to see how Lorenzo goes on Ducati

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Like a fart in a thunderstorm, I think another repeat of the 2 years Rossi spent there.

I'd like to see a few more monsoon type races, sorts the wheat from the chaff.

Marquez again, he's on a roll, basically doing what Rossi did 10-15 years ago

Theo said:

I'd like to see a few more monsoon type races, sorts the wheat from the chaff.

Marquez again, he's on a roll, basically doing what Rossi did 10-15 years ago

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By that reckoning Vermuelen and Gobert are the best we've ever had in MotoGP...

yamfan said:

By that reckoning Vermuelen and Gobert are the best we've ever had in MotoGP...

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If you're referring to their ability in the wet what about Randy de Puniet.

I do like the wet races!

Marques 70% probability, Vinales 30%.
As a side note I have to say I do not think Rossi can beat Vinales fair and square.

If history is anything to go by the favourite to win at the beginning of the season usually doesn't. I'm hoping AI29 comes through like a dark horse and upsets the party. His lap times on day 2 of the Sepang tests on that dirty ...... track where just as fast as the quickest guys on day 3, hopefully thats an indication of of his and the Suzuki's potential this season.

If he can just keep it rubber side down ....

Nah, one quick lap does not mean much. Both bike and rider have to last the full race. Last year Suzuki was killing the rear tire.

Segfault said:

Nah, one quick lap does not mean much. Both bike and rider have to last the full race. Last year Suzuki was killing the rear tire.

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2016 Michellin tyre issues, where do you even start ... probably the Yamaha's losing the fronted without warning stands out for me. That seemed a HELL OF A LOT bigger a problem than any specific instances that the Suzuki's under performed in races due to exessive rear tyre wear.

Although I wouldnt use that reason alone for Vinales not winning the championship .. its a new season with newer bikes and fingers crossed better tyres.