[Khatouche]

Hello people - I've got a MotoGP question...

As I understand it, each rider is restricted to just five engines between now and the end of the season, with each engine being sealed with a stamp...

My question is, what happens if something goes wrong inside the engine? Say a piston ring needs replacing or a gasket. Are they allowed to work on the engines at all?

And another(!) - how do they turn the revs down on these engines?

Ta very much

[fotc1000rr]

My understanding is that if they need to open an engine for any reason, they will be given a penalty...ie grid positions.

They turn down the motors using computers. The computer on a Moto GP bike can even control the amount of throttle the rider can use. For example, if it thinks there is not enough fuel in the tank to finish the remaining laps in a race it will cut some of the throttle off automatically.

[Khatouche]

Hey!! At last! A reply! Thanks for that man...so basically, once the engine has been made that's it - they can't fix anything on it once at the track? Well, they can, but they lose grid position. I've looked all over the FIM website for the regualtions regarding engines and I can't seem to find excatly what I want to know...

[fotc1000rr]

Yeah, it's not easy to find the regs for Moto GP. The engine restrictions are going to be even tighter for 2010. A lot of the riders are complaining that these new longer lasting engines feel "flat". I doubt I'd complain...

[HRC RC51]

I dont think there is any penalty until the 5 engines are all used up. I thouoght the penalty was 10 championshippoints per engine past the 5 allowed engines. The engines will be turned down and no more burnouts after the race (to save the engines in case others fail).