MAHINDRA MGP30
BY ALAN CATHCART
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE AND
FRIEDEMANN KIRN
T
he creation of the Moto3
category for the 2012 sea-
son had to be one of the
more intelligent acts in recent
years by Grand Prix racing's pow-
erbrokers. Instead of a fleet of
externally identical Aprilia 125cc
GP two-strokes, the sound of
music in MotoGP's junior class
became exclusively the roar of
four-strokes rather than the ring-
ding of two-strokes – and not via
a Honda control engine, either,
as was apparently seriously en-
visaged at one stage.
Instead, Moto3 has become
a technical battle between rival
manufacturers, subject to vari-
ous restrictions aimed at hold-
ing down costs. Highlights in-
cluded for 2013 no more than
eight sealed engines per rider
per season (six for 2014) with a
price ceiling of Euro 12,000, and
these to have a maximum 81mm
bore, employ only chain cam-
drive, and rev no higher than
14,000 rpm - using a randomly
chosen control Dell'Orto ECU
supplied by Dorna. The chassis
spec is more free, but there are
no carbon brakes, and one bike
per rider.
This has not only allowed KTM
to defeat Honda for the titles both
years so far, but for two of the
Austrian manufacturer's own cus-
tomers to beat the factory KTM
Red Bull team into third place in
the 2013 points table after a year
RACER TEST
THIRD PARTY
CONTENDER
The Mahindra
MGP30 - designed
and built in
Switzerland by
Suter Racing
Technology to
race in Moto3.
P110
