GP1 machines

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GP1 machines

GP1 machines
Warm-up

The GP1 four-stroke engines are warming up for the new World Cup: Honda and Yamaha are already testing the race track, the Sauber-Petronas Formula 1 team is in the starting blocks with a three-cylinder engine.

Lothar Kutschera

05/02/2001

Although the current runs in the GP1 class offer pure action and excitement, the fans can look forward to an increase in the spectacle. Because next year, the classic 500 two-stroke engines will have strong and loud competition. From 2002, large-volume four-stroke engines with a maximum displacement of 990 cm3 are also permitted in the premier class of motorcycle sport. And the race before the first race of the new GP1 World Championship interests the scene no less than the current fights between Rossi, Biaggi and Co.
Japanese two-wheel giants Honda and Yamaha clearly ahead of the rest of the potential GP1 beginners. Both plants have presented their engine concepts and the tests with the complete racing machines are in full swing. While the GP1-Yamaha, whose in-line four-cylinder was built into a YZR 500 chassis, is already painted in the official colors and otherwise makes a very mature impression, the first driving photos of the Honda certainly do not show the latest status of the development of this prototype . Gaku Kamada, who has a lot of experience with powerful four-stroke engines, was hired to test the very compact looking machine. Last year he finished sixth in the Suzuka Eight Hours with a 1300 Yoshimura Hayabusa.
When the Honda was rolled out in Sugo, Japan, Kamada stayed ten seconds above the superbike record. The pictures clearly show that Honda has not only found an extraordinary solution with the V5 engine (three cylinders to the front, two to the rear, 990 cm3, 16,000 rpm, around 230 hp). Interesting details are also hidden in the chassis. Since the engine is apparently positioned relatively high in the frame, there was no more space to mount the fuel tank in the usual place. So he went one floor below the bench.
A large, two-part radiator is located under the very wide front of the fairing. In the prototype tested in Sugo, parts of the motor housing and the hydraulically operated clutch could be seen on the side. It is questionable whether the cladding of the RC 211 V racer will remain partially open on the flanks. As a rule, racing machines are completely cased in this area. There will be more clarity about the Honda’s Grand Prix outfit in mid-June when the V5 machine is officially presented at the World Cup in Barcelona.
The Formula 1 forge already has good GP1 technology Clean Petronas to offer. The joint venture team from Switzerland and Malaysia chose an in-line three-cylinder. This concept offers the advantage of a minimum weight that is ten kilograms lower than that of the more powerful four- and five-cylinder engines. The engine (989 cm3, 15,000 to 17,000 rpm, over 200 hp) is to be built into a chassis this autumn and then subjected to extensive racetrack tests. The start of the World Cup is planned for 2003. Use in a Petronas factory team as well as in private teams is conceivable. For customers, leasing the three-cylinder would cost between six and ten million marks per season.
Until 2003, in addition to the companies mentioned, other competitors from Japan and Europe will be involved in the top tier of the World Cup ?? possibly BMW too? After retreating to the Dakar, they are looking for a new sporting playground that should bring significantly more PR and media presence than the spectacle in the desert. Nothing is closer than the start of the new GP1 World Championship.

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