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The Moto GP 2 stroke era finally ends.

Thu, 04 Oct 2012

It might have been the fumes of the 40:1 fuel mix but I had a tear in my eye when the chequered flag came out for the last ever competitive two stroke race in the Moto GP paddock on Sunday at Aragon.

With two riders on the sick list twenty two identical single cylinder KTM 125s buzzed round for fifteen laps of mayhem and sometimes eight abreast heading into the first and last corners. The sight, sound and smell were fantastic and the clean close racing was a fitting end to a very special era.

I hope two stroke racing carries on at club level indefinitely as it teaches youngsters throttle control and front end feel that doesn’t come with riding four stroke machines. The nature of the engines mean the rider has to anticipate power delivery well in advance and also ‘drive’ the front end into corners for maximum effect. I’ve watched many riders trackside over the decades but in my eyes the most exceptional breathtaking riders were Carlos Lavado, John Kocinski, Dajiro Katoh and Marc Marquez. Any youngster starting out now should spend time on a two stroke racer as they will learn invaluable skills that will serve them well whatever path their road racing career takes. 

I got pretty close to perfecting the throttle control/front end skills on 250s but then moved to 500s where it was less about the front and more about controlling rear to find grip and steer the beasts on corner exit. Without the luxury of electronics I was pretty close to the competition on some weekends but the Americans and Australians of the 80’s and 90’s could make it happen week in week out. In between high sides however, I still managed 77 top ten 500 GP finishes and was the only rider to put all three Japanese V4 two strokes on the podium so I can still die happy with my trivial statistic!


By Niall Mackenzie


See also: Intermot 2012: KTM 1190 Adventure and 1190 Adventure R Introduced in Cologne, 2013 KTM 1190 Adventure R Revealed, 2013 KTM 1190 Adventure Revealed in Leaked Brochure.