Technical director responds to Moto3 rev limit claims

MotoGP Technical Director Danny Aldridge has issued the following statement in response to KTM's allegations that main rival Honda has been exceeding the Moto3 rev limit.

"You will probably be aware that there was recent speculation in the specialist media that data existed which showed some Moto3 machines exceeding the maximum 13,500 rpm limit imposed in the regulations.

"Frankly, this came as no surprise to us because with a single cylinder 4-stroke engine it is very difficult for the ECU to cut power at precisely the moment when the rev limit is reached. Depending on the signal used by the ECU to measure the revs there can be a period of a few milliseconds where target revs are exceeded by a small amount.

"After further checks on the 2015 limiter we have established that there is nothing unusual or unexpected about how the rev limiter works and that the cut point is consistent on all engines. Nevertheless, moderate and temporary overshoots of the defined rev limit were identified.

"All regulations for the Moto3 class are agreed within the Moto3 Class Working Group which includes delegates from all participating manufacturers. A meeting of this Group had already been convened to take place during the Qatar GP. The original purpose was to discuss future developments in this class. We will now add the rev limit issue to the agenda for this meeting.

"There is no desire to reduce the point at which the limiter cuts power just to avoid data showing minimal overshoots. It may therefore be necessary to modify regulations to take account of inevitable overshoots but, of course, other solutions may also be considered by the working group.

"Further information will be provided after the Qatar meeting."