Tag

1000cc

Browsing

For the 2012 season, MotoGP will be reverting back to its 1,000cc format (actually, it used to be 990cc, but what’s ten cubic centimeters among friends?). While many MotoGP fans have been awaiting the day that the “big bikes” would return to premier racing with their powersliding, rider chewing, wheelie popping ways, it’s hard to get excited when the first two races of the last 800cc season have been so eventful. Nevertheless the die has been cast, and this week should be begin our first glimpse into these two-wheeled monsters.

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.

With the announcement that MotoGP would “allow up to” a 1000cc format in 2012, there was a hinting that manufacturers would be allowed to use their current 800cc machines in the coming years. The provision comes from the concern that another switch in engine rules will mean another financial blow to the teams that have already spent so much time developing their 800cc race bikes. We’ll skip the economic dissertation on what a sunk cost is, and go straight into the news that Yamaha will reportedly not make the jump to 1000cc’s, and instead continue to use its 800cc M1 in 2012.

The GP Commission (FIM, Dorna, IRTA & MSMA) met this week to discuss and further refine the rules that will be implemented in the 2012 MotoGP season, namely the return to the 1,000cc format. The new rules lock in the amount of gas a bike can carry, as well as other details pertinent to GP racing, but the rule everyone is talking about is the 1,000cc switch. Interestingly enough, the 2010 rules allow for motors “up to 1000cc”, but provide different bike weight for bikes under and over 800cc. Check out the details after the jump.

The Grand Prix Commission met today, and came to a resolution on what direction the MotoGP series would take in the coming years. As expected the committee members agreed to a 1000cc format for the 2012 season, and finally revealed some of the details of that switch, such as a maximum of four cylinders allowed in the race motorcycles, and a bore size that can be no larger than 81mm. The announcement was devoid of any further details about “production motors“. More after the jump.