When the guidelines for the 2012 MotoGP season were released, a new class of motorcycle was allowed entry into the top series of motorcycle racing. Allowing the use of production-based motors in prototype chassis, claiming rule teams will be able to enter into the series theoretically for much less money than non-factory teams could in the past, which is a move by Dorna to bolster the GP grid size.
One of the first firms to jump on the opportunity is Suter Racing Technology, the maker of one of the more popular chassis being used in Moto2 this season. Using a BMW S1000RR motor as the power plant, the prototype race bike is based heavily off Suter’s MMX Moto2 bike.
“Our goal is to offer customers a competitive but affordable chassis package, and our first estimate are costs of something between 350,000 and 600,000 Euro for one rider with a set of two bikes per season, engines not included,” said Eskil Suter. “This is obviously a higher price than our Moto2 offers, but developing a competitive MotoGP racer is also a much more complicated and costly task. Our calculation is also based on a maximum of four Suter bikes on the MotoGP grid and not on 13 bikes that we are currently running in the Moto2 class.”
For now the bike uses a stock motor, but the firm plans on introducing engine upgrades as the bike develops further. Buyers of the Suter race bike will have to source their own motors, with WSBK performance specs and beyond being possible. BMW of course is not involved with the project, because if they were, Suter could lose its claiming rule status.
Source: Suter Racing Technology
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