Rider: Marc Marquez Team: Repsol Honda RC213V Winner: Argentine, Americas, German, Aragon and Japanese GPs

LAST YEAR MARQUEZ WON FIVE RACES and the world title in what was without doubt his best-ever campaign. Marquez and Honda didn’t start 2016 as favourites — they were expected to struggle with the Michelins and unified software, but rider and factory turned things around to become the dominant force.

The Spaniard achieved his greatest victory at the damp Sachsenring in Germany, where he struggled on rain tyres, ran off the track at high speed and rode through the gravel trap dirt-track style. That convinced him to gamble on slicks, despite damp patches and low track temperatures. Pol Espargaro (Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) changed tyres at the same time and lasted two corners before crashing because his tyres weren’t hot enough. Meanwhile, Marquez carried on, riding that knife edge between heating the tyres just enough for them to grip, without overdoing it and crashing.

Incredibly, he was the only rider across all three MotoGP classes to score points at the first 15 races. But once he had wrapped up his third MotoGP crown in four years he crashed at the next two races! Marquez’s 2017 chances Marquez’s mastery of the Michelins makes him favourite to win the title again. In theory, all he needs to do is keep riding the way he rode last season.