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We’ve seen the back-and-forth battle across this website for months now: Governments and other leaders want the public to stop using internal combustion engines, particularly if they are fueled by petroleum products. Even international racing programs like MotoGP are affected by these changes, and that means Triumph, a MotoGP partner, is now working on an ethanol fuel development program.
Triumph builds the three-cylinder engines that power all motorcycles in the Moto2 championship, and as part of its move towards the future, the people behind MotoGP want this series moved to alternative fuels. Hence, we get this announcement from Triumph:
FUELLING THE FUTURE – TRIUMPH TESTING SUSTAINABLE FUELS FOR A GREENER AND CLEANER FUTURE
As part of Triumph’s commitment to a more sustainable motorcycling future, a dedicated new testing programme for sustainable fuels has been established at the Brand’s Global R&D facilities in Hinckley, UK.
Working in partnership with Dorna, this project has been set up to deliver a move to E40 fuel in the Moto2TM World Championship by 2024, with a focus on a transition to E100 by 2027.
Sustainable fuel testing to date has encompassed all dimensions of race engine performance development, where Triumph is the sole engine supplier to Moto2TM, to ensure the new fuel standard is not only competitive but will also continue to deliver the exciting triple powered, torque rich, record breaking performance that the riders love.
Hand-in-hand with developments in electric motorcycle technology, demonstrated by Triumph’s TE-1 prototype, and the ongoing efforts on reducing carbon and other emissions beyond current European and worldwide legislation, this sustainable fuels development programme further underlines Triumph’s focus on ensuring that motorcycling can continue to be enjoyed responsibly by riders and fans for many years to come.
If the series is really going to move to an E40 ethanol blend in 2024, Triumph has a lot of work ahead, and the E100 fuel by 2027 is a very ambitious goal. Is Triumph going to challenge the electric motorcycle racing scene in months to come, with a bike to go up against Ducati in the MotoE class? If that class is to ever become anything but a spec series, we will need to see development like that.
As for the rest of us: Ethanol fuel comes with disadvantages when compared to petroleum, but if E40 or other blends are the way forward for internal combustion engines thanks to government bans, it’s a good thing that someone is working on developing the technology at least. Today’s technology may allow development of motorcycles that run on ethanol where that’s available or gasoline where that’s available, thanks to Flex Fuel tech (already available on cars, to a certain extent, and even on motorcycles that come with “bad fuel” dongles). That might be the secret to building a rtw machine even as governments crack down on gasoline.
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