Dorna: 250GP to be replaced by 625-650cc 4-strokes in 2011
Two stroke racing has been on its last legs for some time. Two stroke bikes have largely disppeared from major manufacturers’ road and offroad lineups because the factories say it’s too difficult to make them pass Euro emissions testing. GP bosses have felt for some time that despite the immensely exciting and competitive racing the two strokes deliver, they’re becoming irrelevant in the scheme of motorcycle development - so they’ve been searching for alternatives. Big singles? Supersport-style 600s? Production engines in prototype chassis? It seems the question has now been answered.
MCN is reporting that Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta has submitted a proposal to the Grand Prix Commission to replace the 250GP championship from 2011 onwards with a four-stroke prototype class between 625 and 660cc. The new class will not be allowed to use traction control, and all bikes will be subject to a control ECU in order to keep costs down to a level that will hopefully continue to attract a healthy grid full of teams to the GP feeder class.
It is anticipated that the proposal will be approved by the Commission’s next meeting in Catalunya on the 7th June.
We can only hope that this new class will maintain the incredibly light weight, razor sharp handling and breathtaking competition the 250 two-strokers have been delivering for decades. Their sound and smell will be missed!
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June 1st, 2008 at 10:01 am
But honestly, what is the point in this? So now we have 800CC four strokes (and two strokes are banned in MotoGP), and a support class of 600s. Whats the difference going to be?
This is the factories being greedy, they know they can sell more bikes on the back of a four stroke 600 class than a 250 two stroke class. But i mean, they have WSBK for production bikes, what more do they want? I would have loved a supermono support class, but of course that was never really going to happen for the above reason.
The only good thing is that the cost of running a team is supposed to come down. I dont think that will last long somehow, once the factories get down to spatting with each other. Overall, im disgusted, we are coming over all Formula One, with the factories bullying the series. I have already pretty much jumped ship to the WSBK series.