2027 MotoGP engine development a ‘cost suicide’, claims one engineer
MotoGP is set to switch to 850cc engines from 2027
Aprilia engineer Marco De Luca says “cost-wise” the 2027 engine shift “is a suicide” and believes the aims of the regulations could have been achieved “more simply”.
For the first time since 2012, MotoGP will undergo an engine revolution as the championship ditches 1000cc bikes for 850cc ones from 2027.
The 2027 bikes will also see ride height devices removed and aerodynamics stripped back.
The aim of the new regulations is, in general, to make the bikes safer by reducing speeds. It is hoped, too, that the shift will bring the field closer together.
However, there are already doubts about the intended aims of the new rules actually coming to pass.
To keep costs down, on-track running of the 2027 bikes has been restricted until next year, while development of the current machinery has also been frozen for all except Honda and Yamaha.
During the San Marino Grand Prix weekend, Aprilia’s head of vehicle Marco De Luca was asked about the cost of 2027 engine development and explained just how much of the bike will have to change to accommodate the new unit.
“Cost-wise, the engine exercise is a suicide, in my opinion, because we need…in my personal opinion, one could achieve the same result much more simply than this,” he said, citing tyres - which will change from Michelin to Pirelli in 2027 - as one such example.
“There are several things. If you are talking just about lap time, for sure the engine is a very interesting exercise.
“But if you ask me if it’s going to be cheaper, at the beginning no. It’s going to be a completely new bike.
“You need to revise, because in a very high level competition you have an engine that is smaller, lighter, is going to be positioned in a different way.
“The exhaust is going to be different. The cooling system will be completely different.
“The air intake, everything, is going to be different. So, you cannot take the new engine and put it on this [current] bike.
“It’s going to be a losing game. So, from scratch we are working, as the others are presume, but apart from some things that you can carry over it’s a completely new bike.
“From an economical point of view, for us it’s a big challenge.”
