How does Mario Kart 8 control with the Wii remote(Wii U version)?

OK, so I bought my son Mario Kart 8 for our Wii U for Christmas. We only have a Wii U pad and do not have a pro controller for the system. We do, however, have Wii remotes from a Nintendo Wii.

My memory of Mario Kart Wii is that it used motion control to steer the karts, something I am not a huge fan of. If I use a Wii remote for Mario Kart 8, will it also use motion control(like the steering wheel idea)?

I do not own a steering wheel attachment, either.

Anyway, I am hoping to control the game with directional pad or thumb stick, much like most racing games. This is all about player 2, of course.

How does the Wii remote work on Mario Kart 8? I…presume the gamepad controls with the sticks…

You can turn off the motion control.

With the wii remote, you can attach the nunchuk and use standard controls with its control stick.

Also, with the Wii U game pad you can use tilt controls if you want to, but the control stick is the default IIRC.

Thanks.