Moto3 delivers some of the best racing spectacles of any championship in the world, some would argue the very best racing. Yes, better than Moto2 or MotoGP. But at what cost? I mean, it costs a ton of money to keep this class going, and even more so as the MotoGP calendar expands the circuits involved.
So, a radical shake-up looks planned for 2027, when the new technical regulations for MotoGP come into effect.
Right now, Moto3 bikes are 250cc prototype machines and use engines supplied by Honda and KTM. This has been the format ever since Moto3 replaced the 125cc formula in 2012. But my God, are these bikes expensive, considering they bring in the least number of viewers and likely the lowest revenue for Dorna. The price cap for a complete Moto3 chassis is around $87,300 and $61,600 for the six-engine package each team receives.
Dorna wants to reduce costs by making Moto3 a one-make series and potentially using juiced-up production machines, similar to how Moto2 bikes use Triumph's 765cc engines, although Moto2 bikes continue to use spec-bike chassis. Financially, the bottom line is a Moto3 bike costs around $150,000 to run for a season, and Dorna wants to bring this cost down to $77,000.
But finding a manufacturer that's willing to produce a bike and season's worth of engines for about half the price of the current units could prove difficult. There are rumors that Yamaha is interested in supplying bikes for the Moto3 class, but only if the class uses a configuration that's in Yamaha's current lineup, which it won't.
Honda and Kawasaki are obvious options with the CBR500R and Ninja 500 platforms.
Dorna wants the next generation of Moto3 machines to use 500cc parallel twin engines, and this would increase the outgoing units' 60 hp output to around 80 hp, which is a double-edged sword for hardcore race fans because it should put an end to the crazy antics we love to see in Moto3.
What makes this class so exciting is that all the riders stick together like a pack of angry wasps, and the winner is almost always decided by a last-lap maneuver. The close-pack racing is largely down to the relatively low power output, which makes for great viewing, but has left many talented young riders at the back of the pack in Moto2 before leaving the series—a problem that's been recognized for years.
Should Moto3 bikes start to use more powerful engines in 2027, we might lose the last-lap frenzies but gain even more exciting riders in the MotoGP class in years to come. Let us know your thoughts on the possible technical changes in the comments.
