Fresh on the heels of the news that Honda would continue to supply Moto2 with spec-engines through the 2015 season, Yamaha has confirmed that it will lease to MotoGP teams its YZR-M1 engine, on an annual basis, through the 2016 season.
Teams will then be free to develop their own bikes around the engine, or work with an independent chassis manufacturer to build a complete race bike.
The move from Yamaha comes as a response to the CRT rules, which allow non-factory teams to build race bikes with production-based motors and custom-built chassis.
Hoping to make racing not only more affordable for private teams, but also more competitive against the factory squads, Yamaha’s engine lease program is just one piece in a larger puzzle that is being put together by Dorna.
HRC has also committed to building a production racer variant of the Honda RC213V prototype machine, which will cost €1 million and come without the company’s seamless gearbox and pneumatic valves.
The offerings from both Yamaha and HRC are designed to give private teams a greater range of choices when competing in the MotoGP Championship, though few believe that these efforts will put the privateers anywhere within striking range of the factory house squads and their satellite teams.
Source: Yamaha Racing
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