Despite all the hype earlier in the year, Triumph and Dorna kept very quiet about the rumours surrounding the Moto2 Engine contract. Even Colin Edwards commenting on MotoGP had expressed frustration at not hearing anything. Well this morning Triumph have released details of the deal.
Triumph will be providing the engines for the Moto2 Championship from the 2019 season for at least three years. This is a major step forwards for Triumph and can only improve the brand's image and reach.
As all the rumours correctly stated, the engine is based on the 765cc Street Triple RS engine. The main modifications are to the ports and valves with modified inlet and exhaust ports and Titanium valves. This will allow better gas flow into the cylinders giving a better burn, and the Titanium will allow a higher rpm to be achieved further boosting the power. Other modifications are general racing-oriented changes (such as a revised slip-assist clutch).
They have re-designed the engine covers so that the engine itself will be narrower - and that means the Moto2 bikes will also be narrower which will be a big improvement over the previous Honda-engine machines.
The ECU will be supplied by Magneti Marelli in a separate deal with Dorna.
Julian Simon - the 2009 125cc World Champion, a Moto2 Championship runner-up, and an experienced Moto2 test rider - has been involved with the engine development testing at Aragon. According to Julian "the engine feels strong and in particular the mid-range is very impressive. The feel between the throttle and the rear wheel is very direct and controllable. The general feeling is very good and the engine already shows great potential."
The heritage involved here starts from the Daytona 675. It is basically the Supersport Championship and TT-winning 675cc engine that has been extended and enlarged to provide the 765cc new engine class for Moto2. Given this, there has to be some thought in Triumph's mind to introducing a Daytona 765 version for the general public. It would make sense, but only if the 765cc class-change is taken up in other championships. This year Spirit Motorcycles have been trying a 750cc machine in BSB Supersport but there's been no announcement of a British Moto2 series yet. Supersport machines are generally limited to 600cc (675cc for triples) so this would be quite a jump and you can imagine other manufacturers would be resisting such attempts. We'll just have to wait and see.
