The 125cc World Championship looks set to be replaced by a new, single-cylinder, 250cc four-stroke class from the 2012 season.
According to
GPOne.com, the new class - which will presumably be named Moto3 - will not have a single engine supplier, like Moto2, although “any manufacturer wishing to participate will have to build a minimum number of engines, from 10 to 15, at a price of 10,000 Euros”.
The end of the 125cc class, the only remaining engine-size from the original 1949 world championship season, will also mark the end of two-stroke machinery in grand prix racing.
In 2001 all three grand prix classes consisted of two-stroke motorcycles, but their lack of production relevance saw the premier 500cc World Championship replaced by a new (990cc) four-stroke
MotoGP class in 2002, while 250cc was replaced by (600cc) Moto2 four-strokes at the start of this season.
The success of Moto2, with its huge 40-rider field and unpredictable racing, is sure to have accelerated the process of replacing the 125cc class.
