Yamaha is developing a 250cc race bike to compete in the Moto3 Grand Prix class.

According to MCN, Yamaha is developing a racebike around the engine of the YZ250F motocross bike for the new 250cc four-stroke class which will replace the current 125cc two-stroke class in 2012.

A key part of any Moto3 entry is raising funds, (Yamaha’s MotoGP team still hasn’t announced a title sponsor despite winning the rider’s and manufacturers’ championships) but Masao Furusawa retiring executive officer of engineering operations for Yamaha says Moto3 racing is important for developing riders.

“From the standpoint of saving costs we want to forget about Moto3,” Furusawa told MCN. “But in terms of growing up riders we need to do something. We want to catch up the competitors, so we are doing something for Moto3”

Yamaha are no strangers to the 125cc class: in 1967 and 1968 they won the world championships with Bill Ivy and Phil Read. It was the era of the four cylinders (pictured below), also built to a specification of 250 cc. In total, the manufacturer from Iwata won 47 GP's in the 1/8th liter category.