MotoGP: Intermediate tyres binned

2017 promises many changes to the MotoGP series, but one of the most significant ones is the fact that intermediate tyres are no longer an option for riders. It isn't as big a deal as it seems to be, because the intermediates didn't get used much anyway - strategy this year always hinged around using the full wets, then switching to slicks when the racing line dried up. There will be a replacement tyre, of course, and it will take the form of an extra tyre choice for front and rear slicks. That brings the total to three front and rear compounds each, and an option tyre. 

Among other changes to the 2017 season of MotoGP are the rescheduling of the Sachsenring race in Germany - it will now be held on the weekend following Assen, bringing the total of back-to-back races to three, including the three consecutive races during the 'flyaway' series in Asia and Australia. Motorcycles without cameras will have to carry ballast to balance any unfair weight advantages, and an extra appeals board will be present at each track so that any appeals can be heard and resolved immediately. Finally, the medical code has tightened up so that the medical staff at the Clinica Mobile, the trackside medical facilities, cannot talk to the press without permission from the riders first. Riders, in turn, have to inform MotoGP medical staff if they pick up an injury outside of the racing series.