The FAST and the fabulous

Looking back on the greats of motorcycle racing, Kevin Schwantz would have to be placed high on the list. The Texan and his flying Suzuki were lightning in a bottle so, when the 500cc World Championship came to Phillip Island for the first time it was no surprise to see Schwantz start that first Australian Grand Prix from pole position.

He did that after setting a time of 1m34.990s during the all-important session. By comparison, this year’s Grand Prix around the classic 4.4km circuit will start with Jorge Martin in pole position, with a time of 1m27.296s – more than seven seconds faster than that time Schwantz managed.

That is not a surprise. After all, the Suzuki RGV500 was a 499cc two-stroke V4 with around 160 horsepower and no wings. The 999cc four-stroke V4 in Martin’s Ducati GP24 makes more than 300 horsepower and more wings than a fried chicken family pack. 

Here is just how much times have changed. In Moto2™ qualifying this weekend Fermin Aldeguer took pole position with a time of 1m30.876s on his Boscoscuro, which has a 765cc three-cylinder motor based on the same engine Triumph sells to sportsbike enthusiasts. The motor makes around 140 horsepower but in a 2024 racing bike would eat Schwantz’s Suzuki for breakfast.

And even further down the line, let’s take a look at Moto3™. On pole position, this weekend is Ivan Ortola on the MT Helmets MSI KTM. His lap time of 1m35.872s took a full second off the lap record and would have been good enough for the second row of the 500cc grid in 1989. 

Ortola’s KTM RC250 makes around 50 horsepower, but racing motorcycles have developed so much in 35 years that his Moto3™ pole lap time would have put him on the second row of the 1989 500cc grid. 

Times change – and so do lap times. And the bikes are only going to get faster...