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The Moto3 World Championship will be completely renewed by 2027 or 2028. Instead of the usual prototypes, standard motorcycles with 500 cc and two cylinders will be used. Since 2012, 250 cc four-stroke single-cylinder engines have been used, with 13,500 rpm and about 60 hp. The 500 cc twins-cylinders are supposed to reach about 80 hp.
Honda, Yamaha, and KTM are interested in manufacturing the desired standard motorcycles, but Yamaha only if the group already has a 500 cc series engine in their model range that can serve as a foundation.
The problem: a complete Moto3 motorcycle today costs approximately 175,000 Euros, but Dorna believes that a manufacturer will be found that will offer the Moto3 bikes with twice the displacement, twice as many cylinders, and 80 hp instead of 60 hp for a price target of only 75,000 Euros.
So far, World Championship promoter Dorna hasn't sent out a call for tenders to the manufacturers, with companies such as Ducati, Aprili,a and Fantic having already declined their interest in advance.
For the first eight years since 2010, Honda has supplied Dorna and the teams with the CBR600RR standard engines for the Moto2 World Championship and also manufactures the Moto3 Production Racer for the junior series, such as the European Talent Cup, Northern Talent Cup and Asian Talent Cup. Honda would have a basic motorcycle in its range for the future Moto3 class with the CBR500R, but this 7,200 Euros motorcyle with 471 cc only produces 47.5 hp at 8600/min and could never reach 80 hp. This monster also weighs 190 kg.
KTM has won seven of the thirteen Moto3 World Championships since 2012 and will also equip the majority of the riders with the successful RC4 in 2025: fourteen riders will compete with KTM, two with the identical CFMOTO, and Honda will race with six Moto3 bikes in 2025.
"We're extremely interested in being awarded the contract to build the future Moto3 bikes," KTM Motorsport Director, Pit Beirer said in an exclusive interview with GPOne.com. "Because, since 2012, aling with Honda, we've contributed enormously to the success of the Moto3 World Championship, which has produced a great many outstanding talents. Honda and KTM have put in an immense amount of effort in the Moto3. That's why we'll try to get the contract as soon as a call for tenders is on the table."
"It's no secret that we actually enjoy the competitive situation more, when we can fight against one or more other manufacturers. We've grown in all racing series through this competition. But if a ‘one-make series’ will be present in the future, we'd still be very interested in being Dorna's Moto3 partner. We certainly won't be the only applicant, so we don't know who'll get the contract."
Last year, it was still unclear whether there would be "one-make engines" (with a prototype chassis like in the Moto2) or whether complete motorcycles would be built for a "one-make series" by a single manufacturer, such as a brand cup like in the MotoE World Championship. "If the step is taken and only one Moto3 manufacturer acts as a supplier, then standard motorcycles will be used," Berer revealed. "Dorna wants to keep costs under control, so the engine should be around 500 cc and very close to the series production. We've put it in writing that we're very interested in manufacturing motorcycles for the new Moto3 class. But we first have to wait and see what the technical specifications of the call for tenders will be and what the regulations are."
Beirer continued: "The motorcycle should be a bit bigger and heavier. The price of 75,000 Euros is realistic if an engine is used that is very similar to the production one and if a factory can equip the entire line up. Under those circumstances, this price is achievable. But it is misleading to think that the lap time will be better than with today's Moto3. A bike that needs to be heavier and bigger and only costs a third of what it costs today ... this concept won't work. because I always say 'there are two values in racing: money and lap time'. If you have more money to develop the motorcycle, you'll be faster. If you spend less money, the lap time will be slower. The plan to make the Moto3 class 100,000 Euros cheaper and faster at the same time won't work. Also, nobody can deliver 80 hp with a production engine. But if we build a two-cylinder racing engine with prototype parts, the costs will rise. S,o a fundamental decision has to be made. What's more important, the lap time or the costs?"
The heads of the Moto3 teams are in favor of more powerful Moto3 bikes, also because the 60 hp 250 cc bikes don't place great demands on the riders, and the subsequent swithc to the 145 hp 765 cc three-cylinder Triumph engines of the Moto2 is too much for several of the young talents.
"We're now waiting for the regulations, after which each manufacturer must explain which product he can deliver at these costs," the head of KTM added.
Is KTM advocating for the implementation of the new Moto3 plans for 2027 or do the Austrians prefer the 2028 season for the debut of the 500cc twins?
"In terms of workload, 2028 would be more sensible for KTM, because we'll have to build the new 850 cc MotoGP motorcycles for 2027. On the other hand, 2027 marks the start of the new era with one hundred percent Bio fuel for all three GP classes. So it would make sense to launch the new Moto3 category in the same year. But time is gradually becoming a factor, because there are no set regulations in sight so far. At some point, someone has to start building motorcycles," Beirer emphasized.
"Our attitude is clear. The new concept for the Moto3 must be cost-effective," Beirer continued. "As a manufacturer, we put a lot of effort into the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the Moto3, and the Moto2 to prepare young riders for the MotoGP. You want to develop the best riders in the junior series and not necessarily squeeze the last horsepower out of their motorcycles. Getting into motorcycle racing is too expensive. So, the direction of significantly reducing material costs is the right one. If everyone in the Moto3 World Championship has the same motorcycles in the future, the lap times will probably be two seconds slower and not two or three seconds faster. We have to face this truth," Beirer stated.
"The manufacturers should push together to reduce costs, because these Moto3 motorcycles will also be needed for national championships at some point in the future, so it's going to be even more important that the purchase price be half of what it is for today's Moto3 prototypes. That's why this step towards standard motorcycles is urgently needed now."
When the discussion about a new technical Moto3 concept began nearly three years ago, experts like Luca Boscoscuro, Jorge "Aspar" Martinez, Dani Pedrosa, and Sito Pons quickly agreed that the Moto3 World Championship needed more sophisticated racing vehicles in order to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of riding skills.
We now know that even Moto3 world champions like Albert Arenas, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, and Izan Guevara had and still have a hard time getting used to the Moto2 class. Dennis Foggia even returned to the Moto3 class (with Aspar Martinez) for the upcoming season.
"There's a desire for a technical change in the small, extremely slim, 250 cc single-cylinder Moto3 racing motorcycle," KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer admitted in an interview with GPOne.com. "This 'moped' has little to do with a later MotoGP machine. Also, there's now an age limit of eighteen years in the Moto3. When KTM entered the 125cc World Championship in 2003, it was fifteen years. At eighteen, most of these guys have grown tall, so a Moto3 bike is a very small motorcycle for some eighteen-year-olds, therefore, the trend towards inexpensive 500cc twin-cylinder bikes and a ‘one-make series’ makes sense.”
Displacements of three GP categories
2002 to end of 2006
125 cc 2-stroke
250 cc 2-stroke
990 cc 4-stroke
2007 to end of 2009
125 cc 2-stroke
250 cc 2-stroke
800 cc 4-stroke
2010 to end of 2011
125 cc 2-stroke
600 cc 4-stroke
800 cc 4-stroke
2012 to end of 2018
250 cc 4-stroke
600 cc 4-stroke
1000 cc 4-stroke
2019 to end of 2026
250 cc 4-stroke
765 cc 4-stroke
1000 cc 4-stroke
2027
500 cc 4-stroke
765 cc 4-stroke
850 cc 4-stroke
