MotoGP Claiming Rule Teams Defined

Motorcycle.com Staff
by Motorcycle.com Staff
The Grand Prix Commission has released details for the new Claiming Rule Teams category, set to debut in the 2012 MotoGP Championship.

CRTs will not be allowed to represent any of the current members of the Motorcycle Sports Manufacturers Association (i.e. Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha).

It was previously announced that CRTs will be allowed certain advantages over existing factory and satellite racing teams. CRTs will be allowed 12 engines per rider, instead of six for non-CRT teams. CRT teams will also be allowed a maximum of 24 liters of fuel, compared to 21 liters for non-CRTs.

When the CRT concept was initially announced, it was believed that CRTs would be allowed to claim another team’s engines at a fixed price in order to keep engine development costs low. In a bit of a surprise twist however, it will be the manufacturers who can claim an engine from a CRT.

CRTs may lose up to four engines to a claiming manufacturer, and each manufacturer may only claim an engine once. Engines (including the transmission) may be claimed for 20,000 euros or 15,000 for just the engine. Claimed engines will not count against a CRT’s 12-engine limit.

Teams will have until Dec. 31 of the year before each season to declare themselves as a CRT.

“From 2012 onwards in MotoGP any independent team has the chance to apply for the CRT status, and this stands for Claiming Rule Team,” says Corrado Cecchinelli, MotoGP director of technology on MotoGP.com. “The team thereby accepts that one of their engines can be claimed, which means it can be bought at the end of the race, by one of the MSMA members for either €20,000 with the transmission or €15,000 without.”

“If they accept these regulations they have technical advantages like more fuel – 24 litres instead of 21 – and more engines per rider per season, which will be 12 instead of six. These are big aids, and they will allow the independent teams to race with much lower budgets.”

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Motorcycle.com Staff
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