Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Grand Prix motorcycle racing refers to the premier category of motorcycle road racing. It is divided into three distinct classes:

Moto3: Introduced in 2012, motorcycles in this class are 250 cc with four stroke engines. Previously it featured 125 cc two stroke motorcycles. This class is also restricted by rider age, with an upper limit of 25 for newly signed riders and wild card entries and an absolute upper limit of 28 for all riders.

Moto2: Introduced by Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder of the competition, in 2010 as a 600 cc four stroke class. Prior to that season, the intermediate class was 250 cc with two stroke engines. Moto2 races in the 2010 season allowed both engine types; from 2011 on, only the four stroke Moto2 machines were allowed.

MotoGP: is the current term for the highest class of GP racing. The class was contested with prototype machines with varying displacement and engine type over the years. Originally contested by large displacement four stroke machines in the early years it eventually switched to 500 cc two strokes. In 2002 990 cc four stroke bikes were allowed to compete alongside the 500 cc two strokes and then completely replaced them in 2003. 2007 saw a reduction to 800 cc four stroke engines to unsuccessfully slow things down a bit before finally settling on 1000 cc four strokes on 2012