HAS THE NEW cost-cutting six-engine rule introduced in 2010 into MotoGP really worked?
“Not very much,” according to Fiat Yamaha MotoGP chief Masao Furusawa.
Despite the decision to restrict the number of engines per team with a view to saving cost, Furusawa reported Yamaha's development budget had been increased by as much as 20 percent.
Team director Masahiko Nakajima said that better durability had been achieved by careful study of temperatures at the piston crown and of the effects on the con-rod.
“The key point is the reciprocating parts. We simulated on a computer model how the temperature of the piston increased on the track, and also how the con rod is moving. There is some twisting, and we reduced that and also some degrees of temperature.”
And would this benefit production engines, as mooted at the start of the season?
“The target for a MotoGP engine is 2,000 km, but a production engine needs to last for 100,000 km or more. I can’t say what the relationship is.
“But for the Suzuka Eight-Hour machines we use basically a production engine for a distance of 1,200 km, and you can still have problems with durability. So maybe you can say that we get more power and better durability from a MotoGP engine."
