A new engine for Moto2 could be revealed in a matter of weeks, according to Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta, “and I think it will be a good surprise”.
Negotiations were almost complete, he said. “Unless there are any problems, you will have news quite soon.”
The brief for the replacement engine has been open since the search began last year – with not even two-strokes ruled out; but until now there has been no hint of a solution.
Honda has supplied mildly modified CBR600 engines from the inception of Moto2 in 2010, with actual maintenance and delivery handled from within Dorna’s empire for the last few years – but the contract runs its course at the end of 2018.
To critics, the use of a production engine, and more especially a road gearbox with fixed ratios, has been the biggest weakness of the orphan Moto2 class. To fans, however, the potential for close racing is a plus (not always realised); while team managers enjoy the lower costs of the humble engineering.
Racing insiders would prefer a logical mid-point between the full race engines of Moto3 and MotoGP, both operating within a maximum bore of 81 mm, and the 250cc single cylinders of Moto3 effectively a quarter of a four-cylinder MotoGP motor.
Ideally Moto2 would field 500cc twins, but unless a manufacturer steps forward with an offer to build such a racing motor, the class is more likely to be condemned again to production power.
At the start of the class, KTM offered to supply engines but were declined. This time round, sources close to the Austrian factory repudiated suggestions that they might be the new supplier.
GEO Honda 600 engine, Valencia Moto2 test, March 2010
By Michael Scott