Excitement is starting to build with just a month to go until the first official test for the Moto2 class at the beginning of March. An incredible 39 riders are provisionally confirmed to make up the starting grid for what is arguably going to be the most exciting development in GP racing for some years.
As the exclusive supplier of tyres to the championship, Dunlop engineers and fitters will be working hard with the teams at the Valencia circuit from 1st to 3rd of March, putting the prototype chassis through their paces. This will also be the first opportunity for the teams to run with the highly tuned Honda 600cc Moto2 engines which will be the standard across the class.
As all competitors will run with the same engine and tyre choices, development work has been focused on prototype chassis, which are free from limitation. Most teams now have a rolling bike and some have been conducting private tests over the winter with substitute engines. Some of the team choices for chassis include Mapfre Aspar who will be running an RSV chassis, Stop and Go Racing who have opted for Eskil Suter chassis, Gresini Racing Team will race a Moriwaki chassis and JiR Moto2 who are running a TSR chassis. Tech3 have been working extensively on their bike (pictured) over the winter and have already yielded impressive results.
The provisional rider line-up looks set to provide close racing with a huge talent pool gathered for the season. The list includes no less than four 125cc World Champions with Thomas Luthi (2005), Gabor Talmacsi (2007), Mike di Meglio (2008) and last year’s champion Julián Simón. Add to this a number of 250cc riders and MotoGP stars Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis and it looks set to be quite a season.
