Moto2 ECU: Launch, torque and engine-braking controls

While the official set of electronic controls for next year’s Magneti Marelli Moto2 ECU are still to be decided, some parts of the new package are becoming clearer.

Alongside the change from 600cc Honda to 765cc Triumph engines will be the introduction of an advanced ECU, to help riders prepare for the kind of sophisticated electronics used in MotoGP.

Moto2 currently uses a standard Honda ECU, but Magneti Marelli is basing the new 2019 system on its MotoGP ECU, removing and simplifying portions to suit the intermediate class.

MotoGP Director Of Technology Corrado Cecchinelli told that the final list of Moto2 ECU functions for next year is still under consideration and will only be decided after winter testing.

However, Cecchinelli believes that the starting package will at least include launch control, torque management (different ride-by-wire connections, between rider movement of the throttle and engine output), plus engine braking.

The engine braking control will include automatic throttle-blipping during downshifts.

The most obvious function missing from that list is traction control, which Cecchinelli confirmed will ‘probably’ not be available for year one, pending a final decision.

Sam Lowes – who has experience of World Supersport and MotoGP electronics, as well as the basic system currently used in Moto2 – recently said:

“Moto2 was hard for me without electronics, because I came from World Supersport where we had everything. The Yamaha I rode to win the Supersport championship had the blipper [automatic rev on downshift], traction control… it had more than we’ll have here next year.”

The Englishman added: “Traction control would only help if it’s set-up right because you need a bit of spin to turn the bike. So if you try and use traction control too much in Moto2 you’d be hindering yourself. But in the wet it’d be lovely!”

Magneti Marelli’s MotoGP ECU, which can be fine-tuned for each corner on a track, also includes wheelie control.

However ‘adaptive strategies’ – previously used by factory MotoGP ECUs to automatically compensate for tyre wear and fuel consumption – were not included in the unified software, compulsory from 2016.

Whatever the final list of functions for the 2019 Moto2 ECU, the system will continue to evolve over the following seasons.