MotoGP Review: Technology is cheap

It looks like the current 250cc Grand Prix class will change a year ahead of planned, with 2009 now shaping up to be the final year of 250cc two-stroke prototypes at Grand Prix level.

These were the proposals being discussed by IRTA and the MSMA last weekend at Mugello and this forthcoming weekend at Barcelona as the shape of the MotoGP feeder class is formed.

The trouble is that different sides of the table want different things, so many huddled chats were seen in between trucks during the Italian GP weekend.

125cc and 250cc Aprilias © DPPI

Now, no one is against the idea of ditching 250cc two-strokes from the teams' point of view (IRTA), as they are facing rising costs to lease competitive machinery from Aprilia or other manufacturers.

Polaris World are reportedly on a budget of 4.5m euros to lease a front-running 125 and 250 bike for the season. I said lease; they have to give it back after the last race. That makes bank managers' eyes water ...

It is also worth remembering that Aprilia's parent company, Piaggio, supplies 16 of the 22 bikes on the 250cc grid, so they have quite a say in matters concerning what they can charge now that Honda is no longer in the frame, because Honda no longer makes any two-stroke motorcycles at all.

Indeed, the stunning prices that some teams are rumoured to pay for their 250s is cause for another manufacturer to seriously think about charging teams - a mere 200,000 euros a bike. Big difference, that.

Now, from a manufacturer's side of things, they obviously favour the idea of not losing an engine's identity and character if they ran, for example, a Kawasaki or a Honda block.

But the issue would then again be the Flammini brothers of FG Sport, who run the World Superbike Championship, opposing that stock blocks are being used.

This is where Piaggio comes in supporting the 620 - 650cc capacity as a runner, because then Dorna and the GP paddock say it is complying to the letter of the law to be in Grand Prix, therefore not treading on the toes of the Super Sport championship.

What we also know is being discussed is a way of avoiding expensive costs using exotic materials or lightweight parts in the engine, but parts that are readily available off the shelf from any motorcycle dealer.

This naturally means a four-cylinder across the frame block from a basic 600cc engine. Pistons, crankshafts, valves could all be limited by a minimum weight to save on costs, while valve opening could be limited by camshaft profiles, for example.

This sounds a great idea but there are a few problems; one is slightly technical, and another lies in the rule book, as the cylinder walls of modern 600s are wafer-thin and cannot be bored out.

The idea also crashes because you are using a production block, and in the eyes of the Flammini brothers of FG Sport, that is their domain and they have a contract to run production motorcycles and associated parts.

Dorna has a contract with the FIM to solely run prototype-based machines, something that came up for more than lively discussion in 2004 when the WCM team entered essentially a modified Yamaha R1 into the MotoGP class.

Mika Kallio and Hiroshi Aoyama on Red Bull KTM 250s © DPPI

It had Kawasaki bits here and there in it too, but Superbike's organisers took issue with this. The matter eventually was adjudged that WCM were not allowed to run the bike after an FIM hearing. You have to have prototype bits to race in Grand Prix.

Chassis design for the new class is expected to be free and open to all sorts of creative possibilities. Engineer's manna!

Also suggested was a standard ECU, data logger and associated sensors, enabling the FIM Scrutineer to easily plug in his laptop and see who has been doing what, just as things are in F1 with the SECU that all F1 teams have this season, eliminating traction control and any potential dark dealings.

But then from another angle I understand that the MSMA, made up of all manufacturers involved in Grand Prix, have suggested the unthinkable option of a single engine for the class, a la GP2/A1GP for the four-wheelers.

I personally don't think it would be desirable to have a world championship homogenised to the degree where you have even less flexibility in set-up and skill. Go one-make racing if that's the option.

I mean, what machines are going to go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2030 if we end up with all championships running the same car or the same bike?

We are all guardians of the sport, and must shape the future while we can.

But the trouble is then that teams have to cast new blocks/crank cases, a killingly expensive operation as any motorsport nut will know.

That's where the whole discussion falls apart, as actually CAD CAM technology, casting companies and machining facilities are not killingly expensive, and certainly not the big hairy monster that they used to be.

Wouldn't it be brilliant to have a new class with 500 - 600cc capacity that would then set up domestic championships the world over, so that youngsters could train themselves at home before stepping up to the class?

Wildcards would flood into every race, while ex-works GP bikes could cascade down to national championships and then club level.

Ace tuning houses or teams can fill a grid with some wacky thinking. It would get things fantastically wide open.

Fundamentally though, enabling the championship to be open to tuning houses and wizard engineers out of the back of trucks, having wacky ideas rather than enormous wallets, may be an interesting breath of fresh air to this paddock.

International club motorsport has many motorcycle-engined cars racing, many now as V8s with a common crank, never mind those with the standard four-cylinder technology from MotoGP that has cascaded down to the man in the street.

Mattia Pasini stretches his lead over the 250cc field in Mugello © DPPI

Whatever changes, it has to move on from where we are at because at present the 250cc field is thin at 22 bikes, with some pretty drawn-out, boring races. Not a good way to titillate an expectant TV audience before the MotoGP race, is it?

Also, if Dorna makes the 'MotoGP2' class, it may well 'force' Aprilia out of the 250 leasing business and into the MotoGP class and supply some teams there, just as Honda and Ducati do. As you can see, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and up the numbers for the main event.

And who knows what it may be called - already someone out there is cybersquatting on motogp2.com!

The decision to make this class a reality is not far away. Whatever happens, the last year for the current 250 class is 2011, but there is the strong possibilty that this could run as a class in the Spanish Championship in 2009 with it appearing on the Grand Prix schedule proper in 2010.

The final word has to go to the straight-talking Harald Bartol who engineers KTM's 125 and 250 Grand Prix teams.

"If I have to make a new engine, then I'll just design and build one."