The MotoGP 850cc engine era has already begun: but will lap times really drop?

MotoGP is warming up for the 2026 showdown, but factory racing departments are already largely focused on the following World Championship, which will mark the beginning of the new 850 engines era. Will the displacement reduction—undertaken to cut performance and increase safety—be just a flash in the pan?

Design is at a very advanced stage, to the point that some manufacturers have already let fans hear the roar of the new units. Engine development typically happens in stages. The first is building a single cylinder, on which fluid dynamics and reliability are verified. Once the process is validated, work moves to constructing the final unit. Remember that by regulation, engines from 2027 onward cannot have more than four cylinders.

The most obvious question concerns the power figures achievable with the 850 engine, and in particular what the delta will be compared to the current 1000s. During the presentation of Aprilia Racing, technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini provided interesting details. "The displacement reduction is 15%, so considering that today’s engines make 300 horsepower, you might expect to lose 45 horsepower, but it’s not such a straightforward calculation." The reason is that compared to the current regulations, the bore—the cylinder diameter—will also change: it will drop to 75 mm from the current 81 mm. "So it’s not just a smaller displacement; there’s also a reduction in bore that will require smaller valves and will affect fluid dynamics," Sterlacchini explains. Stroke is not mandated by the regulations, but it can be derived from a complex mathematical formula determined by displacement and bore values: it yields a result of 48.1 mm.

"So the power loss will be greater than the percentage reduction in displacement; let’s say it could fluctuate between 15 and 20% less than today’s 300 horsepower,” is Sterlacchini’s view. However, the delta obtained from mathematical analysis could differ from what we’ll see in practice. For example, much of the experience gained with the 1000 cc engines can be transferred to the development of the 850s, especially in materials and fluid dynamics. Aprilia’s technical director offers an intriguing hint: "The power figures we’re seeing at this stage of development are higher than those in the initial phase of the 1000 era that started in 2012." This time the engineers aren’t starting from a blank sheet, so in a year we might find that the gap between old and new isn’t so striking.

It’s a fair question, for two reasons. First: a reduction in displacement doesn’t necessarily mean a power loss as obvious as the math would suggest. Second: in modern MotoGP, true “engine tracks” are very rare; the one-kilometer straights are only at Aragon and Mugello, so the engines are used at maximum power for only a small percentage of a single lap. Therefore, raw power matters little—perhaps very little. At the moment, the only indisputable fact is that manufacturers have had to invest very high budgets to redesign the engine. The rest remains to be seen...

Regulatory limitations don’t always reduce investment; in fact, it’s often the opposite. Consider engine allocations: this year as well, each full-time rider will have a supply of seven engines for 22 GPs, meaning 44 races given the Sprint. There is thus a need to use highly advanced mechanical components to withstand such stresses without reliability issues over long mileage. "When engines were unrestricted—that is, when you could use plenty of them during the season—a piston cost a few hundred euros; now it’s ten times that or almost," Sterlacchini reveals. The cost-side advantage is that in the ’26 World Championship, the same engines from last year must be used by regulation, with no development. The rule was decided so engine makers could focus on developing the 850s.

If slowing them down is the goal, it’s not a given that 850 cc engines will achieve it. Weren’t there other regulatory avenues rather than forcing manufacturers to redesign the engine? "Sure, but it would have been much harder to focus on other aspects; let’s say displacement reduction is the measure that raises the fewest disputes, because it’s an indisputable element that everyone must conform to," explains Sterlacchini. MotoGP regulations (and Superbike’s as well) are defined directly by the manufacturers through the MSMA (Motorcycle Sport Manufacturer Association). In other words, those who race make the rules themselves. In Formula 1, the technical commission is composed of independent engineers who receive input from the promoter, Liberty Media, and write rules that primarily serve the show. In MotoGP, however, it’s all “in the family,” and the regulations are the result of meticulous negotiations among the competitors themselves, with all the repercussions that entails. It’s likely that Liberty Media will adopt the same system as Formula 1, but we’re talking about a process that will take years. For now, that’s how it is—like it or not.

Photo: Paddock-GP