At Jerez this weekend, the Permanent Bureau (FIM & Dorna) was light on the details when it . However after the announcement, Shuhei Nakamoto, VP of HRC, revealed more information about the engine that will be used in Moto2.
According to Nakamoto, the motor, which reportedly has been under development for the past two years, is based on the cureent road going CBR600RR sports bike motor. It will have a wet clutch, and will not feature a cassette-style gearbox (a departure from the CBR and most modern sport/race bikes). Honda will provide an ECU for the engine, but it is unknown whether that ECU will have traction control capabilities as seen in MotoGP. Additionally, the shape and size of the airbox will be left for the teams to develop.
Honda will sell the motors to Dorna for €24,000, with the option to buy the motor without the gearbox for €17,000. Dorna will then pass the motors onto the teams for use. Each motor is expected to have a 2,000km service life, so teams will need around 3 motors per bike for the season. As stated in the original announcement, power will be around 150hp.
Internally, Honda Research & Development will prepare the engines, as HRC doesn’t have the capacity to do so right now (we can’t imagine why, since Honda has pulled out of so many racing series). But the two departments are said to be working closely with each other on the motor development. Teams can expect to get their hands on the physical motor some time in October of this year, but will be given a CAD drawing of it within the next few weeks so they can begin chassis development.
With Honda publicly admitting that the engine will be based off of the current CBR600RR, there are some breaths being held while people wait and see what the Flammini brothers and Infront Motor Sports have to say regarding this news. The Flamminis claim they have exclusive rights to production-based motorcycle racing, an agreement which the Moto2 unit could be said to violate. However, with a custom chassis, different style gearbox, and other improvements, it seems hard to make the argument this is production racing, even if the CBR is the muse for this motor.
Source: MotoGP Matters
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