We’ve come across this video interview by Giovanni Zamagni of Italian website Moto.
it with Speed Up Team owner Luca Boscoscuro at the Valencia Moto2 offical tests that are seeing former MotoGP rider Gabor Talmacsi and former 125cc rider, but better known for his head butting, Andrea Iannone coming to grips with their new bikes.
The video is pretty good, not only because it gives us great close-up footage of the bike and the new Honda engine, but because the interview with Boscoscuro reveals certain aspects of this new Moto2 series that we found interesting , so we decided to share with you and translated it.
Q: So Luca Boscoscuro, tell us about the new category Moto2:A: Well, it’s a new series for everyone, thought up in a very short period of time …Q: Too short maybe?A: From my point of view, yes.
I see that everyone is in the same situation as ours and having difficulties … what we’ll needing for the season … and since these are prototypes we’ve had very little time to work on them.
Q: Tell us what happened here in Valencia? They’ve finally given you the engines, tells us about how it worked and how they gave you the engines.
A: Geo Technology who prepares the engines for Moto2 … there was a draw for the engines, the rider pulled a numbered token from a bag.
Q: Can we see this number?A: It’s here on the engine.
In this case it’s Gabor Talmacsi’s bike #24 that we’re using for the first official tests here and in the Jerez test at the end of March.
They’ve ordered us to run only a max of 750km in this three day test and another 750km at Jerez and then we leave for Qatar, where they’ll deliver the new engines that will last for the first three races.
Q: About the engines, no one says what the maximum horsepower will be?A: In the beginning they said that the maximum they would be producing was 150bhp and that’s what really tempted all the teams to join Moto2, because it would have been more competitive than the 250cc class, to tell the truth we still have to know what the real horsepower output is.
Q: Clearly it has to be below 150bhp …A: We still have to try them, we’ll have to see … but if this Honda engine puts out 150bhp it would be almost impossible for it to last 1500km … which it has to do.
Q: Pros and cons of this class, according to you?A: Con? I don’t know … what we knew before was that the 250cc class bikes formed riders, they could mature learning the development of the chassis, engine, set-up, in this case, with these engines, the gearbox can’t be modified …Q: And this is a limit …A: … This is a big limit … in building the riders of the future.
It isn’t strange that all the strongest riders in the world come from the 250cc class and before that from 125cc … and the riders that come from Superbike … boh … we’ll see what Spies does in MotoGP, his predecessors did very little …Q: You’ve haven’t said anything about the positive aspects so far …A: No because it’s too early to pass judgement since we haven’t started yet.
I think that the races will be very good to watch and we’ll se some great battles because everyone has the same engine …Q: Engine and ECU unit …A: More or less, the differences could be who is be better in making a more aerodynamic bike or making a better exhaust system as the exhausts are free, but the differences will be minimal …Q: A positive thing is that I’ve seen a lot of different chassis, there’s a lot of interest…A: Since it’s a new class and Dorna believes in it a lot and is pushing it, it’s normal that a lot of people are interested.
Q: Let’s talk about costs.
Does it really cost a lot less that the 250cc?A: Absolutely not.
Originally it was supposed to be that way, but in the end it isn’t.
At the moment we’re still seeing and we’re still budgeting, but in the end economically it won’t be cheaper than a 250, even considering an official bike, the differences are … I’d say a 10/15% less, that’s max.
Q: So we can say that with one rider you can spend about 200,00o euros less in a season?A: Around 200,000 a season … With Moto2 we’re forced to use one bike, but in 250cc we had two, but if we compare that with a single 250cc the costs weren’t that much higher.