IN
THE
WIND
P38
NEW MOTO2 ENGINE JUST WEEKS AWAY
A
new engine for Moto2
could be revealed in a
matter of weeks, according to
Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta.
"I think it will be a good sur-
prise," he said. Negotiations
are almost complete. "Unless
there are any problems, you
will have news quite soon," he
added.
The brief for the replacement
engine has been open since
the search began last year, with
not even two-strokes ruled out,
but, until now, there has been
no hint of a solution.
Honda has supplied mildly
modified CBR600 engines from
the inception of Moto2 in 2010,
with actual maintenance and
delivery handled from within
Dorna's empire for the last few
years, but the contract runs its
course at the end of 2018.
To critics, the use of a
production engine, and more
especially a road gearbox with
fixed ratios, has been the big-
gest weakness of the orphan
Moto2 class. To fans, however,
the potential for close racing
is a plus,while team managers
enjoy the lower costs of the
humble engineering.
Racing insiders would prefer
a logical midpoint between the
full-race engines of Moto3 and
MotoGP, both operating within
a maximum bore of 81mm, and
the 250cc single cylinders of
Moto3 effectively a quarter of a
four-cylinder MotoGP motor.
Ideally Moto2 would field
500cc twins, but unless a
manufacturer steps forward
with an offer to build such a
racing motor, the class is more
likely to be condemned again
to production power.
At the start of the class,
KTM offered to supply engines
but were declined. This time
around, sources close to the
Austrian factory repudiated
suggestions that they might be
the new supplier.
Michael Scott
MANZI TO JOIN
PECCO BAGNAIA
S
tefano Manzi, the Moto3 wild card
sensation of the British GP, will join
Pecco Bagnaia in Rossi's new SKY VR46
Moto2 next year.
Manzi, fourth at Silverstone, was
signed up on the eve of the Valencia GP.
The spot had been earmarked for
Romano Fenati before the Italian star was
sacked after major fallout with Rossi's
Moto3 team at the Austrian GP.
Fenati was meantime confirmed as
returning to Moto3 next year, riding an
Ongetta Rivacold Honda. CN
Stefan Manzi will join Valentino Rossi's
SKY VR46 Moto2 Team next year.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
