An early Christmas present was given to MotoGP fans with the news that the MotoGP series will be changing to 1000cc bikes for the 2012 season. The desicion was confirmed by FIM President Vito Ippolito and Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.

800cc limit machines were introduced in 2007 in an effort to make to sport safer – the previous 990cc bikes saw a number of riders often reaching speeds in excess of 200mph. The 800cc bikes have been widely criticised for taking the edge and thrill out of the sport by teams and fans alike, so a return to 1000cc will be welcomed. Valentino Rossi was quoted as saying that the switch to 800cc machine in 2007 was “the biggest mistake in the last 15 years”.

Vito Ippolito said:
“The main changes we have decided on are new rules for the MotoGP class. We will have four cylinder engines, 4-stroke of course, with a 1000cc maximum, and the bore of the cylinders will be 81mm. This base will give all the manufacturers the opportunity to start work. At the beginning of next year we will produce the new rules in a more complete format, but that is the basis; 2012 will be the year of a new era of MotoGP.”

Carmelo Ezpeleta said:
“It was a very important meeting to decide the future of the MotoGP class. From 2012 the bikes will have an engine capacity of up to 1000cc, have up to four cylinders and the maximum bore will be 81mm. It’s a very important measurement because with this we can have all the characteristics of the engine. This has been approved and between now and the start of the 2010 season we will have another two meetings to define the rest of the specifications for this new class.”

For 2010 and 2011 the four-stroke, unlimited cylinders 800cc variant will continue to be enforced, and teams will still need to abide by the 6 engines per rider rule.

Confirmed MotoGP specification for 2012:

• Maximum displacement: 1000cc
• Maximum number of cylinders: 4
• Maximum bore: 81 mm

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