Former Editor Michael Esdaile asks:“ Could the new Yamaha racer form the backbone for a GP class in national championship racing?”
WORDS: Michael Esdaile PHOTOS: Yamaha
by Paolo Pavesio, Managing Director, Yamaha Motor Racing. What became clear from Ezpeleta and Pavesio’ s comments was that Yamaha and MotoGP Sports Entertainment see the new twin cylinder platform as having potential beyond the world championship, with the idea of laying the foundation for a cheaper global racing class— similar to what existed in the 1970s and 80s with Yamaha’ s 250 and 350cc two-stroke twin cylinder machines. Pavesio revealed that Yamaha is committed to building the new Moto3 racers to meet the new price cap of 50,000 Euro as well as the minimum weight of 120kg with a power output of 95hp. It has a contract to supply the new twin cylinder racers from 2028 to 2033 and expects to continue beyond that. Yamaha will also supply a lower specification version for Moto Junior FIM World Championship from 2029 onwards. The price cap for the current 250cc single cylinder Moto3 machines is € 175,000 or US $ 205,000.
ENGINE EXCHANGE At this point, Yamaha is planning to lease the engines to MotoGP Sports Entertainment, who will in turn supply them to the Moto3 teams, who will buy and own the rolling chassis. This will allow Yamaha to hold onto whatever new engine technology is developed for the twin,
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