English
Italiano
Two years ago, Italian Moto2 manufacturer and Speed Up team owner Luca Boscoscuro put forward an interesting proposal. The 1995 European 250cc champion, who has just won the Moto2 riders' World Championship with Ai Ogura, emphatically called for more displacement for the smallest GP category with the single-cylinder 250cc four-stroke engines, which produce around 65 HP and are allowed to rev to a maximum of 13,500 rpm.
This was because the age limit for Moto3 rose from 16 to 18 years in 2023, and the youngsters are also getting taller in stature. Team owners and riders like Sito Pons, Aspar Martinez and Dani Pedrosa liked the idea immediately; also Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta was prepared to take action. But only for the 2027 season because the technical Moto3 rules are cut and dried until the end of 2026.
In the meantime the members of the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturer’s Association (MSMA) and the Grand Prix Commission have been discussing more engine capacity and ways to keep the cost down in the smallest GP class. Boscoscuro had suggested more powerful 400 or 500cc twins instead of 250cc singles for the 2027 season. But Dorna also decided to discuss the possibility of a sole engine supplier like with Triumph in Moto2. Even the idea of complete one-make machinery like in the electric MotoE World Championship (run with 18 Ducati V21L bikes) was put forward during the 2024 season.
Discussions between Dorna and IRTA officials and technicians and the manufacturers are now well advanced. There are now only two different models on the table.
Option 1: Dorna appoints a single manufacturer for the complete Moto3 race bike and turns this category into a «one-make series». (But GP bikes are supposed to be prototypes).
Option 2: Those responsible agree on identical engines from a single manufacturer (as in Moto2), but leave the teams leeway for different rolling chassis suppliers (like Kalex and Boscoscuro in Moto2. Kalex built Moto3 chassis with KTM engines in 2012 and 2013). The new Moto3 engine is supposed to be derived from a production model, like Triumph's 765cc three-cylinder engine in the middleweight class.
The key data of the future Moto3 engines have also been determined: 500 cc, a maximum of two cylinders, power output of approx. 80 hp (now in Moto3 just under 60 hp at 250 cc).
However, the manufacturers' interest is limited. This is because Ducati is already building the MotoE one make machines and is doing so primarily to gain valuable experience in the field of e-mobility.
Massimo Rivola, CEO of Aprilia Racing, would have suitable Aprilia production models in his program. For example, a very good 500cc V2 engine that produces around 70 hp as standard.
Massimo Rivola did show some interest for a Moto3 participation but his main objectives for the near future are different: Aprilia wants to fight for the MotoGP title with Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi in 2025 and not get bogged down with other projects. At the same time, the new 850cc MotoGP engines for 2027 have to be developed in Noale with the new Technical Director Fabiano Sterlacchini.
At the same time, Dorna officials are thinking about how the costs for the Moto3 racing teams, some of which are not very financially strong, can be reduced.
One possibility: the Moto3 World Championship races could be limited to Grands Prix in Europe in the future. In other world championship series (MotoE, Supersport 300, Women's World Championship, Supermoto World Championship, etc.), such an approach has long been common practice. And the Supercross World Championship events were only run in the USA for years with the blessing of the FIM.
And even the 500cc World Championship was held entirely in Europe in 1981 with only eleven events - between April 26 and August 16 – in just under four months!
Ten overseas GPs were organized in 2024, which will put a real strain on the Moto3 teams' travel budgets. Three costly trips - India, Kazakhstan and Argentina - were canceled.
At the moment, the team association IRTA pays the engine package (maximum of 6 engines per season and rider allowed) in the amount of € 60,000 in full to the teams, but IRTA is financed by Dorna's commercial income. From 2025, the engines will cost € 80,000, of which IRTA will pay € 70,000. Most Moto3 team bosses hope that the engines will be made available to them free of charge in 2027.
But as the chassis packages will certainly not become cheaper by 2027, the team owners do not see any cost savings at the moment if the overseas races are not discontinued and no complete unit bikes are used.
In addition to Ducati and Aprilia also Yamaha and Fantic do not plan to take part in the bidding process for the 2027 Moto3 World Championship bikes or engines.
Therefore Honda and KTM are primarily in the running as Dorna partners.
KTM has the 490cc V2 Duke engine with 70 hp in its range. A new model with 80 hp is currently under development in Austria, according to reports. For the time being, Honda only has the CBR500R with 47.6 hp on offer, but could build a more powerful production engine in time.
So far, no final decision has been made for the technical 2027 Moto3 concept.
At present, the Pierer Group uses no fewer than 16 motorcycles with the KTM RC250GP by promoting four brands - KTM, GASGAS, Husqvarna and CFMOTO. The GASGAS and Husky brands will be withdrawn after the 2024 season, leaving 14 KTM, two CFMOTO and ten Honda on the grid.
