All Go For New MotoGP Rules?

All Go For New MotoGP Rules?

Final ratification is upcoming
By: Henny Ray Abrams

The engine regulations slated to go into affect in 2012 were agreed to in principal in Qatar, the site of the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship on April 11, but not before some negotiating and not by unanimous consent.

The MSMA, essentially the factory cartel, was pushing for a rule that would prohibit any factory from racing a 1000c production-derived engine. This would include the current factories, as well as BMW, Aprilia, Kawasaki or any other factory that wanted to join the series. Essentially it keeps them on the outside looking in. Only private teams - Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Gresini Honda, Pramac Racing, etc. - could race a production-derived engine and the factories would continue to race 800s.

Considering how unpopular the 800s are with the riders, that wouldn't sit well with them. And there developed a rift among the factories. Honda and Yamaha were in favor of keeping 800s, while Suzuki and Ducati wanted to revert back to liter bikes. The1000cc engines could be limited by rev limiters and restrictors. The provisional agreement that was reached calls for the 800s to continue as they are, but with factory machinery opened up to 1000cc prototype engines. If a factory chooses to run a 1000cc engine, they're limited to an 81mm bore, they have only 21 liters of fuel, and they're limited to six engines. That allows BMW, Aprilia, Kawasaki and any other manufacturers to come in with liter-sized purpose-built racing engines.

The private teams that want to run 1000cc production-based engines, i.e., R1s, GSX-R1000s, CBR1000RRs, are also limited 81mm bores, but they can fit a 24-liter gas tank and will have the use of 12 engines.

Final ratification is expected at the Japanese GP in Motegi on the weekend of April 24-25.

MOTOGP: Noyes Notebook: 2012 Rules Debated
Dennis Noyes asks if tank capacity is more important than displacement in MotoGP? Plus, thoughts from the Qatar opener.
Dennis Noyes | Posted April 15, 2010 Doha (QAT)

Fuel consumption has become the key to success and performance in the MotoGP class. The clear advantage in top speed down the long Losail straight at the GP of Qatar probably had more to do with the 21-liter limit on MotoGP fuel tanks than on any true horsepower advantage of the Ducati Desmosedici and Honda RC212V over the Yamaha R1.

The fact that Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo placed first and second, beating the top Honda of Andrea Dovizioso and the Ducati of Nicky Hayden back to third and fourth, was obviously not the result of any power advantage by the two FIAT Yamahas.

Rossi ran out of fuel less than half way around his victory lap and said afterward that he was worried about fuel because the M1 was spinning up on corner exits. Lorenzo said the same about spinning, and admitted that the main worry over the weekend had been about getting to the end of the race with the bike still running hard. The fuel monitoring systems on MotoGP bikes make sure they get home (usually) by constant measurements and adjustments. The system saves fuel by reducing power (revs), and that is probably the reason that the Yamaha was giving up between 4 and 6 mph to the Honda and Ducati on the straight.

In fact, when Dovizioso pulled out of Rossi’s slipstream and powered by, that was the warning Rossi was waiting for. “When I see Andrea can pass before the finish line I realize that I must open a bigger gap so that he cannot do this on the last lap,” said Rossi.

Finally, Rossi broke clear and that left Dovizioso to fall into the clutches of Lorenzo, riding with broken bones in his right hand. There was not enough speed advantage for the Honda to offset Lorenzo’s hard riding and the Yamaha seemed to jump off the slow corners better that the Honda.

Qatar is a track that burns fuel by the bucket, but what we are seeing in the jostling and negotiating between Dorna and the MSMA (manufacturer’s association) is that the currently participating factories are determined to keep a lid on performance by holding to the 21-liter limit when the new regulations for 2012 go into effect.

This is not what Dorna and IRTA wanted. The original proposal from Dorna (and with support from IRTA) was for a two-tiered MotoGP class with 1000cc engines eventually replacing the current 800cc bikes. Under this formula, still strongly supported by IRTA, the current 800cc bikes under present rules would continue, but competing against factory-entered 1000cc four cylinder bikes with a maximum piston diameter of 81mm and six engines for the 18-race season (the same number of engines allowed to the 800cc bikes). These factory bikes could be either pure prototypes or modified production engines. A third level of machines would consist of 1000cc engines entered by 'non-factory' teams. These 'private' or 'independent' teams would be allowed twelve engines instead of six.



MOTO-RACING

Both Dorna and IRTA were originally in favor of upping the fuel load to 24 liters for all three classes of machines. But the MSMA members objected strongly, arguing that it would not be commercially or socially wise to abandon emphasis on fuel consumption at a time when these concerns are becoming more important.

Although the MSMA insists that there was already a compromise agreement even before meetings in Qatar, IRTA’s General Secretary Mike Trimby said on Saturday morning that there was a push by the MSMA to keep 800cc prototypes as the only regulations for 'factory teams' and to allow severely restricted 1000cc engines with the 81mm bore rule only for private teams.

I know that the original Dorna proposal was for a single capacity -- 1000cc -- and with more engines over the season permitted to 'private' teams. Whatever actually happened in negotiations between the players, including the FIM whose President Vito Ippolito has been pushing for factories to produce affordable 'production racers' for private teams much in the manner that 'customer 500s' were sold to private entrants in the eighties and early nineties, there was a general agreement reached in Qatar.

Some very important details still need to be ironed out, but what we have at the moment as the bare bones of the 2012 technical regulations calls for three levels of machines.

1. Factory prototypes running under current regulations. That is, no limits on bore, four cylinders, 21-liter fuel capacity and six engines for an 18-race season.
2. Factory 1000cc machines (whether true prototypes or production-derived), which will be limited four-cylinder bikes with a maximum piston diameter of 81 mm, with a 21-liter tank and six engines for a 12-race season.
3. The third type of bike will be a four-cylinder bike with a 1000cc engine (whether prototype of production-derived) with an 81mm maximum bore, but with a 24-liter fuel capacity and up to 12 engines over the 18-race season.

All other standard regulations remain the same for all three types of machine as concerns number of gears (six), materials, and bodywork.

Among the details to define is one of great importance to the MSMA members:

What constitutes a 'factory team' and when is a 'private team' really independent? The fear that the factory teams have is that a private team will enter using a factory-prepared engine and that they, the MSMA teams, could find themselves with only six engines for the season and a 21-liter fuel limit battling a 'skunk works' factory effort run under the guise of an independent team and that this pseudo private team (they are especially worried about the BMW R1000SS and the Aprilia RSV4 engines overbored to 81mm and with shortened stroke) coming at them with a thirsty and powerful engine -- with 24 liters in the tank and with twice the number of rebuilds or engine replacements.

The IRTA answer to this problem is the introduction of a claiming rule for engines among private teams. The logic is that no full factory team in disguise would risk losing a very special factory engine to private team. IRTA even proposed calling the private teams by the name of 'Claiming Rule Teams,' of teams that are entitled to buy and obliged to sell engines from or to other private teams.

Claiming rules have never worked well in AMA competition. The whole process was fraught with trickery and abuse.

There are many questions to be answered beyond the very dodgy one of what represents a true private team. Setting a price high enough to discourage frivolous engine purchases and low enough to actually be affordable will not be easy. And, since these non-factory bikes will run prototype frames, of what use is it to buy an engine of a type other than the one that fits the frame of the buyer?

Private 1000cc Intended To Fill Out The Grid

MotoGP has gone into its second consecutive season with only 17 bikes and the contrast with the 41-bike grid of Moto2 bikes that swarmed the circuit in Qatar is all the more noticeable.

What Dorna wants is to fill out the grid, getting back to 22 or 24 bikes -- back to eight rows of three would be fine -- and thereby avoiding situations where very good and established riders like Toni Elias and Álex de Ángeles are not driven to the support class, and where a British star with a big following like two times World Superbike Champion James Toseland is not sent back to the welcoming arms of the Flammini brothers to give even more depth to an already solid SBK line-up.

So the purpose of the private 1000cc bikes is to get the grid back to a respectable length by stocking it with affordable bikes powered by 1000cc production-derived engines. The Moto2 class has brought back the art of chassis building as a cottage industry and from this vast array of 14 different frame builders the cream will rise and become the likely choice to design frames for the private teams.

The MSMA are worried, though. A true private effort with a good chassis and a well-honed 1000cc production-based engine (or a prototype engine built by someone other than a commercial brand of motorcycle) could, especially with three more liters of fuel and twice the engines, cause some excitement and maybe pull off a major upset.

There was some talk earlier of fitting restrictor plates to keep the 1000cc engines on a par with the 800cc. Yamaha, at least for the moment, intend to stick with the 800cc M1 in the near future, but some factory teams are expected to build 1000cc prototype engines (Ducati are rumored to have already started and most experienced paddock observers feel that Honda may be anxious to put their 800cc days behind them and start with a fresh sheet of paper).

The fact that there is an agreement in principal does not change the fact that there is a strong difference of opinion between what IRTA wants and what the MSMA is prepared to accept.

Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has made it clear to the MSMA that he is prepared to let them continue in their role as the first authority in drafting technical regulations only if they commit contractually to bringing the grid back up to 20 or more bikes.

At present Honda enters six bikes and Ducati runs five machines while Yamaha enters four and Suzuki continues with two. With the MSMA unable to guarantee a 20-bike grid, Dorna is insisting on opening the field to 1000cc machines.

The devil is in the details.

Why Stoner Fell

And just a quick word about the MotoGP race…

The news in Qatar was that Valentino broke Casey Stoner's string of three Qatar wins in a row when the Australian threw away a race that seemed to be his from the first free practice on Friday right up until he lost the front of his Ducati Desmosedici at Turn 4 on lap six. Even though Valentino Rossi insisted that he would have done his all to fight for the win, Casey had already taken two seconds including just over a second on lap five. The only way Rossi was going to win was to push Casey into a mistake, but it was an unforced error.

Casey was upbeat in spite of leaving Qatar without points. “It was a silly crash and it was not because I was pushing but because I started to take it a little easy. I saw I had two seconds and decided to start taking wider lines. I had had a couple of moments with the front so I widened my race line and that was a mistake. I unloaded the front, it pushed and I couldn’t save it. I have only crashed in three races since I joined Ducati so crashing is not a problem with us.”

Rarely do you see a podium with three happy riders. Usually at least one of the three is forcing a smile after losing a battle for a place and points. This time winner Valentino Rossi felt he had dodged a bullet. Recovering Jorge Lorenzo, second, said this second place felt better than some wins. Third place finisher Andrea Dovizioso had to shake off the effects of losing second to Lorenzo after a hard pass up the inside in the third of the three fast right-handers, but he offset that with the satisfaction of winning a drag race to the flag against Nicky Hayden.

Even Nicky was happy, after he thought about it, because he was on the pace again.

And the rookie everyone is watching, Ben Spies, was the fastest man on the track for a few laps at mid-race. He was fifth and less than four seconds back after 73.5 miles of racing.

2012 MotoGP rules confirmed: 1000cc, 153kgs, 21 litres, 6 engines per rider, 81mm bore.

Claiming teams have 12 engines & 24 litres.



125cc will be GP3 250cc 4 stroke in 2012. €10k engines to last three races & each manufacturer must be able to supply 15 engines minimum.



Claiming teams means another team can take your bike away if they pay a fee of, say, €50k. Stops bikes being 'too developed' & expensive.



ty for the tweet TM

The Grand Prix Commission meeting at Brno saw a few more details added to the evolving MotoGP rules for the 2012 season, when the class will change to 1000cc engines and feature some different rules for 'Claiming Rule Teams'.



The 2012 rules already announced are:



Capacity up to 1,000cc

Number of maximum cylinders 4

Maximum bore ø 81 mm

Minimum weight 150 kg (up to 800cc) and 153 kg (over 800cc)

Maximum number of engines available for use by each rider 6

Fuel tank capacity 21 liters



Exception for Claiming Rule Teams (CRT's)

Maximum number of engines available for use by each rider: 12

Fuel tank capacity 24 liters



At Brno, it was revealed that the Grand Prix Commission will decide if a team is eligible for the CRT concessions, presumably to prevent an undercover factory effort.



"The selection of the Claiming Rule Teams (CRT's) will be by unanimous decision of the Grand Prix Commission. Modification to this exception due to performance of the teams requires the simple majority of the Grand Prix Commission."



Linked into this was a further announcement that any new (factory) MotoGP manufacturer will be given engine concessions for their first season, again presumably to tempt the likes of Aprilia or BMW to make an official entry rather than support a CRT team.



"Any new manufacturer entering the MotoGP class and not being selected Claiming Rule Team (CRT) will be allowed to use 9 engines instead of 6 for their first season," said the statement.





125

The Grand Prix Commission is meeting on the eve of the Czech GP in Brno this weekend and inside sources say an important announcement about the future of the smallest GP class will be made following the meeting.



Starting in 2012 the 125cc ranks will be replaced by the new Moto3 class, which features 250cc single-cylinder, four-stroke engines. But while most believed the engines would be a single-maker spec unit like in Moto2, they now say this is not the case and that the class will be open to competing manufacturers.



This would open the door for several new brands to possibly go Grand Prix racing, as all of the Japanese manufacturers as well as KTM, Aprilia and several other European manufacturers have existing knowledge and development with 250cc singles through the racing and production of their current four-stoke motocross bikes.



If, and when, Moto3 takes to the gird for the first time it will mark the end of two-stroke GP racing, which has been around since the series began in 1949. It also marks the end to the final remaining original world championship class from '49.



Also on the agenda for the GP commission this week is to determine if Suzuki will get an extra three engines added to their original allotment of six, as they are already only one short of running out for rider Alvaro Bautista and the season is only halfway completed. Word is also that the proposed new MotoGP rules for 2012 will not be finalized at this meeting, as more time is needed to discuss the details and deal with the increasingly-vocal opposition from Infront Sports, the company that runs World Superbike.