- The riders lining up on the grid for the MotoGP™ race have a combined total of 14 premier-class world titles (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi – 7 and Jorge Lorenzo – 3, and Repsol Honda Team's Marc Marquez – 3 and Nicky Hayden -1), which is the greatest number of premier-class titles ever represented on a grid in the 68-year history of motorcycle grand prix racing.
- Marc Marquez is on pole for the seventh time in 2016. After winning in both Aragon and Japan he will be aiming for his longest sequence of successive race wins since he won ten in a row in 2014.
- Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) is in second place on the grid, just his second front row of 2016. This is the fifth successive race that Crutchlow has been the top Independent Team rider in qualifying.
- This is the first time that Honda riders have taken the top two places on the MotoGP™ grid since the Malaysian Grand Prix last year.
- Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) has qualified on the front row for only the second time in the MotoGP™ class; his other was second place on the grid at Le Mans in 2014.
- This is the first time since the opening race of 2014 in Qatar that two Independent Team riders have filled two of the places on the front row of the grid.
- Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) heads the second row, equaling his previous best qualifying result of the year at the Czech GP.
- Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) is in fifth place on the grid, which is a great improvement on his previous best qualifying result in the MotoGP™ class - 12th place on the grid at Silverstone this year.
- The best Ducati rider in qualifying is Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) in sixth place on the grid.
- Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team) has qualified at the head of the third row – his best qualifying in MotoGP™ since he was on the front row at the Japanese GP in 2013.
- Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) is in eighth place on the grid, his best qualifying result since the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2014. This is the best qualifying result in the MotoGP™ class for Aprilia since Colin Edwards was in seventh place on the grid at Valencia in 2003.
- Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) starts from 12th place on the grid – his worst qualifying result since he superhumanly qualified 12th at the Dutch TT in 2013, when he broke his collarbone in a crash on the first day of practice and was back on the bike the day after having surgery.
- Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) starts from 15th place on the grid, which is his worst qualifying result since he was 15th in Germany in 2011.
- This is the first time that both riders in the factory Yamaha team have qualified for a MotoGP™ race outside the top ten places on the grid since the final race of 2007 at Valencia, when Colin Edwards was 15th fastest qualifier and Valentino Rossi 17th.