With the MotoGP paddock once again assembled for the start of the season at Qatar, the four organizations who make up the Grand Prix Commission, MotoGP’s rulemaking body, took the opportunity to meet, discuss, and adopt a number of rule changes. The rules cover a number of areas, including testing for all three classes, the 2014 technical rules for MotoGP, and further steps to control the real cost of engines in Moto3.

The most significant part of the press release is perhaps also the least obvious. The GPC confirmed the 2014 technical regulations previously agreed upon, after Dorna received assurances – and detailed proposals – that the manufacturers were prepared to supply private teams with affordable machinery. The news that Yamaha has agreed to lease engines to teams was the final piece in the puzzle which ensured that the rule package for 2014 would be adopted.

In three weeks’ time, the 2013 season gets underway for all three Grand Prix classes, and motorcycle racing’s winter will finally be over. Before that, there is a week of testing at Jerez, where first the Moto2 and Moto3 classes get their final run out on the track from Monday through Thursday, before MotoGP takes to the track on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Testing at Jerez may be affordable for GP’s junior classes, but it does not come without risk. Moto2 and Moto3 tested at both Valencia and Jerez in February, and while conditions were sunny and dry, if a little cool at Valencia, the test at Jerez was very mixed indeed, with rain disrupting two of the three days of testing. This test looks just as likely to be disrupted by rain: while good weather is forecast for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, Tuesday looks like being a total washout.

That will leave the riders with two full days of dry testing – for some arcane reason, IRTA has decided to spread the three days of Moto2 and Moto3 testing over four days, with the test starting on Monday afternoon, and concluding on Thursday lunchtime.

There is surely method to this madness, but unfortunately, IRTA does not have a press office, and so nobody to explain it. In the absence of an IRTA – the International Roadracing Teams Association, the official body representing the teams – press officer, the media are left to scratch their heads, speculate, and all too often, concoct explanations for themselves.

Much was expected of this Friday’s meeting of the Grand Prix Commission, but in the end, the decisions taken were relatively minor. Dorna, IRTA, the FIM, and the MSMA agreed on a number of proposals which had widely been expected, but made no real progress on the major rule changes expected for the 2014 or 2015 season.

The rule change with the biggest immediate impact was the dropping of the Rookie Rule, as we reported during the Silverstone round of MotoGP. The dropping of the Rookie Rule, which prevents new entries into the MotoGP class from going straight to a factory team, opens the way for Marc Marquez to join the factory Repsol Honda team next season. Contrary to popular opinion, however, the rule was not dropped at the request of HRC, but rather of the Honda satellite teams themselves, both Lucio Cecchinello and Fausto Gresini fearing the disruption that Marquez would bring for just a single year.

The rookie rule is to be dropped for the 2013 season. The Spanish daily El Pais is reporting that Dorna and IRTA have decided that the rule preventing MotoGP rookies from being signed to a factory team had to be scrapped due to the difficulties presented by the limited number of bikes available to ride. As a consequence, it was felt it was better to drop the rookie rule altogether, rather than create more problems for existing satellite teams by maintaining it.

The Selection Committe, comprised of the FIM, IRTA, and Dorna, has released its official list of entrants for the 2012 Moto2 & Moto3 World Championships. Subject still to the final confirmation of riders contracted to the teams, we can initially see that Moto2 will get a slight grid reduction for 2012, as the middle-child of Grand Prix racing will have 32 riders from 20 teams competing on any given Sunday.

That number will also hold for the new Moto3 class, which will replace 125GP in the upcoming season. Notable team entries come from Bankia Aspar, which is currently leading the 125GP class, and Gresini Racing, which will have a stake in each of the three GP classes. Also present is Marc Marquez’s Monlau Competicion team, which adds some fodder to the increasing debate as to whether the talented Spaniard will ride in MotoGP for next season, though we expect to hear more on that at Valencia, if not at Sepang.

Though an official list, a final selection meeting will be held by the Selection Committee at the Valencia GP, after which a final list of teams and riders accepted will be published. Check the official Moto2 & Moto3 entries after the jump.

MotoGP has just announced that six new teams will be inducted into the premier motorcycle racing series come the 2012 season. Recieving more bids than there was room for, Dorna’s list of new entries is entirely comprised of teams who currently campaign in the Moto2 or 125 GP Championships, which is less surprising than it seems since these teams already have the resources and logistics to do the globetrotting that MotoGP requires, not to mention the economies of scale.

Also, the participation of these teams in the lower classes serves as a vetting process to ensure that only quality race efforts enter MotoGP. Conversely, it’s in the best interest of Dorna to create a ladder program within the three Championships, so participating teams can groom young talent all the way from Moto3, through Moto2, and into the premier class. Find the list of the six new Moto1 MotoGP teams after the jump.

Bridgestone and MotoGP will go together like peas and carrots for another three years, as the premier racing class has extended the Japanese tire company’s exclusive tire agreement through the 2014 season. Today’s announcement also means that Bridgestone will be the single-tire supplier going into the new 1,000cc format starting next year. Supplying tires to MotoGP since 2002, as of today Bridgestone-clad riders have won 4 World Championship Titles, 70 Grand Prix victories, and 197 podiums in the premier class.

In a somewhat bizzare move, the GP Commission is set to discuss the possibility of bringing 1000cc race bikes to MotoGP a year earlier than previously agreed upon. A proposal set to be put forth on Friday by IRTA President and Tech3 Yamaha boss Herve Poncharal would allow for 1000cc motorcycles to race in MotoGP in 2011 rather than in 2012 as was planned because of the alleged need to fill the grid from its current 17 bike total.

While Icelandic volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull grounded flights all over the world (most noticeably in northern Europe), the impact to motorcycling seemed negligible. However with the Japanese GP at Motegi scheuled for this weekend, Dorna quickly realized that teams would not be able to leave European airspace to setup camp in Japan for the next round of MotoGP. As such Dorna and the IRTA have postponed the Japanese GP, and rescheduled the event for Octoberd 3rd, between the Aragon and Malaysian GP’s.

Hopes were dashed in Valencia today as FB Corse was denied the opportunity to enter the 2010 MotoGP series with the rest of the field at Qatar on April 11th. The FB Corse team was at the Spanish track the past few days testing their FB01 race bike with Garry McCoy at the helm. Today being the final day of testing, representatives from Dorna and the IRTA were on hand to assess the condition of the FB Corse team and bike, and to make a determination as to whether they would be included in the 2010 series. Despite all of the media hype, Dorna’s Franco Uncini’s determined the team was not ready for MotoGP, but could maybe enter the series midway through if they where then ready.