Bye bye, 250cc

[Rawwr]

Following a Grand Prix Commission meeting at Assen on Friday the FIM have announced the decision to replace the 250cc category with a new 600cc class, as of 2011.

On Friday 27th June at the A-Style TT Assen the FIM made the following announcement:

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Claude Danis (FIM), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), in the presence of Mr. Paul Butler (Secretary of the meeting), unanimously decided to introduce the following change to the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations.

Replacement of the 250cc class
For application from 1.1.2011, the Grand Prix Commission accepted the following proposal, taken by the majority of members of MSMA: 4-stroke engines of 600cc maximum and 4 cylinders maximum. A request will be sent to all manufacturers. The candidatures of the manufacturers interested in taking part in the new class must be sent to the FIM and Dorna by July 31, 2008 at the latest. More precise technical specifications will then be discussed and established

[Johno]

Honda get their way . . .

[Rocket Pepper]

I understand the need for change going by some of the comments in MCN this week, but I too think Honda are pulling CE's strings.

[telecat]

The question is do they need to change the Formula. Given that Lorenzo and Dovizioso have both come up this year and have been pretty successful the 250's do work. So the only reason to change is to satisfy Honda's drive to 4 stroke. Trials have already "put off" the 4 stroke change over as only Honda can afford to produce a competitive four stroke. All the Trials Bike Manufacturers have or are producing a Four Stroke. But none of them are as good as the Montesa(Honda) at world level. As for the riders most still prefer the Two stroke's.

[castrolcraig]

R E P O S T . . . . . . .

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=534...

besides, its not all honda, yamaha and kwaka have been known to be pushing for this for at least 5 years now........

[Rawwr]

Well, no, it's not a repost as the official announcement was only made about an hour before I posted that. What you posted was rumour and supposition

[castrolcraig]

Rawwr said:

Well, no, it's not a repost as the official announcement was only made about an hour before I posted that. What you posted was rumour and supposition

hmmm you posted that it had been agreed by the msma i posted that the proposal had been made by irta, dorna and fia.

so yes, it was official when i posted it, especially as most of the manufacturers already had the rules sat on there desk.................


oh yeah, i forgot, if it isnt in the public domain it isnt official...

[Rocket Pepper]

I'm baffled by what these cats are deciding upon.

Is it a four stroke four cylinder prototype engine of any configuration, and can anyone race any type of chassis providing they use the engine(s) allowed?

I think I'm an idiot coz I don't understand where this is going when it comes to keeping racing costs down and developing road bikes.

[sprinter885]

With increasing development of "clean" two stroke technology I'm disappointed that the 250 class is going when something like a nice 4 pot 350 2 stroke would make a good step up. I can understand the move away from the real tiddlers (50/80 cc) of years past but I hope 125s don't go the same way-but it's likely to be part of the grand plan.

After all GP racing is meant to be prototype machinery but I think it's all moving closer to, shall we say, loosely related to road bikes. I understand manufacturers want sales to benefit from success in racing but realistically that cannot be said of F1 motor racing.

p.s. I hope Dorna aren't screwing up all round with the change of broadcast also to BBC- on separate thread (THAT REALLY GETS ME GOING !)

Edited by sprinter885 on Saturday 28th June 12:38

[castrolcraig]

Rocket Pepper said:

I'm baffled by what these cats are deciding upon.

Is it a four stroke four cylinder prototype engine of any configuration, and can anyone race any type of chassis providing they use the engine(s) allowed?

I think I'm an idiot coz I don't understand where this is going when it comes to keeping racing costs down and developing road bikes.

4 stroke, 4 cylinder engines with unlimited chassis design and no electronics.....

[Rocket Pepper]

castrolcraig said:

4 stroke, 4 cylinder engines with unlimited chassis design and no electronics.....

So why is there all this talk of Honda being the only manufacturer capable of affording to produce such an engine in sufficient numbers to satisfy regulation as well as support an entire race series at world level? Is this a back door way into introducing a one make engine series?

Is it likely that Aprilia, KTM, Derbi and even Yamaha and Kawasaki can afford to produce prototype engines in sufficient numbers as to be able to compete? What is the story so far regarding engine numbers, because the way I read it, it sounds like Ezpeleta (Dorna) are tendering for one company to produce one engine for everyone to run with. In which case I wouldn't have any interest in it at all at GP level.