Larger displacement and e-fuels: the impact on the new Triumph engines

From 2024, all three GP classes of the Motorcycle World Championship will use racing fuel, at least 40 per cent of which must be of non-fossil origin. From 2027, fully synthetic fuels will be used – that is, pure e-fuels without any petroleum additives. These are produced using electricity (hence the ‘E’) from water and carbon dioxide and are climate-neutral when green electricity is used.

This should not be confused with petrol sold at filling stations, such as E10 petrol. The ‘E’ here stands for ethanol, and the number following it indicates its percentage content in the fossil fuel. E100 is therefore pure alcohol, as used in motor racing or in IndyCars.

The timing of the introduction is no coincidence: the current five-year contracts with the manufacturers involved in the MotoGP class run until the end of 2026, and during this period the technical regulations cannot be significantly altered.

For 2027 and the following five years, not only will the technical regulations in MotoGP be drastically overhauled, but Moto2 riders will also be given new engines. The background to this is that the British single-supplier, Triumph, uses a modified version of the Street Triple 765 RS engine in the Moto2 World Championship, which is also used in the Supersport World Championship. This model is set to receive an upgrade for 2027, with the engine capacity increasing from 765 to 800 cc.

There are two challenges to overcome

Work on the new engines is in full swing; the teams and chassis manufacturers have already been provided with information regarding the dimensions so that the suspension can be adapted to the frames.

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Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Manager, also has some insights to share regarding the use of pure e-fuels. “When the fuel changes, there are two challenges to overcome,” explained the Briton. “The first is ensuring there is no drop in performance; to achieve this, you need to get the fuel injection right, for example. I can reveal that when we switched to 40 per cent synthetic fuel, we experienced no loss of performance. We’re having the same experience with the 100 per cent synthetic fuel. However, if you increase the non-fossil proportion in the fuel, you have to pay more attention to the durability of the engines, because the engine oil degrades more quickly.”

Triumph-Manager Steve Sargent

Foto: gold & goose

In MotoGP, from 2027 we’ll see four-cylinder powerhouses with 850cc instead of the previous 1000cc. In Moto3, standard Yamaha bikes will be used from 2028 onwards, featuring 689 cc twin-cylinder engines based on the R7 engine. As far as engine capacities are concerned, the differences will therefore be significantly smaller in future than they are today, where riders compete on 250cc, 675cc and 1,000cc machines.

“It is the responsibility of the MotoGP organisers to ensure the right balance between Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP,” emphasised Sargent. “They are giving a lot of thought to ensuring that the steps taken are the right ones. It has been decided that there will be significant changes for MotoGP and Moto3, and indeed for Moto2 as well.”