TRIUMPH MOTO2 PROTOT YPE
FIRST TEST
P80
W
hen the news broke
18 months ago that
Triumph was set to re-
place Honda from 2019 onwards
as the control-spec engine sup-
plier for Moto2 with a specially
tuned version of its then-brand
new 765cc three-cylinder engine
powering the all-new Street
Triple, eyebrows were raised
around the world, shortly fol-
lowed by smiles.
For the world's joint oldest
extant motorcycle marque,
which built its first bikes in 1902
but hasn't competed in Grand
Prix racing since 1969, was
finally making its way back to
the MotoGP paddockâalbeit as
an engine supplier, rather than
with its own factory-supported
race team.
And with the deal later ce-
mented contractually in June
2017, it meant that from 2019
onwards the no-holds warfare
that is Moto2 will play to a
new soundtrack, with Honda's
high-revving four-cylinder
600cc screamers replaced by
the glorious mellifluous howl
of a herd of open-pipe three-
cylinder racers. It's a triple treat
that hasn't been heard on a GP
racetrack for the best part of
50 years, ever since Giacomo
Agostini last scored successive
GP race victories and world title
crowns on the three-cylinder
500cc/350cc MV Agustas in
the early 1970s.
NEW WORLD
A Brave
