With the recent publication of the Technical Regulations for the new four-stroke 250cc category to be introduced in 2012, motogp.com asked the MotoGP Director of Technology to outline the main points of the class which will replace the 125cc

Corrado Cecchinelli, MotoGP Director of Technology, spoke about the new Moto3 category, following the announcement of the Technical Regulations for the class which will commence next year. Cecchinelli gives an overview of the characteristics of the new 250cc four-stroke machines, the purpose of their replacement of the 125cc bikes, his expectations of the impact on the World Championship in terms of both the quality of racing and development of technology, as well as the financial benefits that will be felt from the launch of the Moto3 machinery.

Cecchinelli said,

“The main reason for this concept is having something more in line with the present times, because for the majority in the real world, nobody is interested in two-stroke engines. They are rarely used now. The second thing is that we believe with the number of limits in the regulations, it will be a very cheap bike and engine to make, buy and maintain for the race, therefore this should open the doors to more riders and ensure fairer racing. I think it will bring a better and more modern image to the sport, but more than that, it will become in line with the following categories. It will be more suitable to become the first step for a rider/team from the base level to MotoGP racing.”

”The engine will be a prototype engine and it will be 250cc. It will be a single engine, fuel injected and it will contribute to saving costs and improving reliability. The machine will be considered together with the rider, as in the present 125cc series. It will weigh 148 kilos, the difference to what we have with the current 125cc, will be more than we expected from the engine itself. This is in line with what I had said earlier about making it more of a championship where they can progress onto MotoGP, this is because the advantage for very light riders will be reduced, as well as the disadvantage for heavier riders will also be reduced. It will be a more interesting challenge technically, because it will be the type of engine that is better known today by everyone and closer to what everybody is actually using. There will be many more engines in the race compared to the present 125cc category, as we’ll have many different brands which will be interesting for the fans.”