GP125CC: SWAN-SONG FOR THE SMALLEST GP RACERS

The 2011 Grand Prix season will be the last for the only remaining original world-championship class … GP125cc. It will close a chapter of history in which Dunlop has played a leading and in recent years dominant part.

The junior class has been restricted over the years – the excess of Honda’s fivecylinder four-stroke of the 1960s replaced with a single-cylinder two-stroke engine. From 2012, the class will make way for Moto3, with single-cylinder four-stroke engines of 250cc.

In 2010, the news of extinction coincided with a titanic title struggle, between Spanish teenager Marc Marquez and compatriots Nico Terol and Pol Espargaro.
Marquez claimed the title with ten race victories – the other two had just three each, but consistent rostrum finishes kept the issue in doubt until the final race.

In 2011 Marquez and Espargaro have moved up to Moto2. Their rival Nico Terol remains to fight for the final 125cc crown.

Although tyre choice is free, Dunlop supplies the vast majority of entrants after squeezing out all tyre competitors. Dunlop has dominated this open class since 1997, winning the last 14 championships in a row.