Factory Option Teams (12 engines)

Ducati – With 12 engines to use over the 2015 season, all four factory Ducati riders have opened four engines apiece. With eight unopened engines for the remaining eight rounds, Ducati riders are in good shape for 2015, but 2016 will see some tightening of the belt.

Dovizioso has one race on #1, two races on #2, two races on #3 and three races on #4. His team opened #4 for FP3 at Catalunya and #1 has not been used since, so that is possibly a problem with #1. At Assen he used engines 2, 3, and 4 at least twice each.

Iannone withdrew #1 at Jerez after racing it in the first two rounds. At Assen he used each of his three opened engines at least once.

Pramac Ducati – Petrucci’s situation is very close to Iannone’s, having withdrawn his #1 at Le Mans after racing it in the first three rounds. At Assen he also used each of his three opened engines at least once.

Hernandez withdrew his #2 at Jerez after racing it twice, and at Assen he used only two of his available three engines.

Ecstar Suzuki – Suzuki stil looks like the team that will have the most unopened engines at the end of the season. Both Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales used only two each for the first six rounds, and of those, each raced five rounds on a single engine with the other engine racing only once.

At Catalunya the Suzuki story entered a new chapter as the factory brought a new engine design that they hoped would deliver more power on the long straight. Each rider raced the new engine, #3 for both, and at Assen the factory brought engine #4 out. Though both Suzuki riders used their #3 and #4 engines at Assen, both raced #3. Espargaro used his #3 in every single session, having been obliged to participate in QP1, and used his #4 only in FP3 when it entered the system and then briefly in the W-UP.

One of my little birds suggested that a vagary of the Suzuki engine numbering scheme might indicate that #4 is closer in design to #1 and #2 than it is to #3. This is one of those things we wish we could know for sure, if only the factories would tell us.

Like Ducati’s, Suzuki’s riders have eight unopened engines each, though Espargaro and Vinales each have an engine with no race duty to date.

Gresini Aprilia – There appears to be more development going on at Aprilia, certainly more engine usage for both Melandri and Bautista. Some of this is due to the factory’s development of a seamless gearbox, which requires a different crankcase design. That means a new engine since breaking the seal on the crankcase is not allowed.

Melandri has now withdrawn three engines (#1, #2, #4) and has four still in use (#3, #5, #6, #7), though #3 has not been used since FP3 at Mugello. At Assen, Melandri used #5, #6 and #7 at least twice.

Bautista has withdrawn only two (#1 and #3) and has three engines opened. At Assen he used all three of them at least once.

Melandri has five unopened engines and Bautista has seven.

Open Teams (12 engines)

Similar to the Open Factory teams, none of the Open Class riders is in any engine trouble with the 12-engine allowance. Still, a brief run through of the numbers for each.

Athena Forward Yamaha – Bradl has two engines withdrawn, two open, and eight unopened.

Baz has three opened, none withdrawn, nine unopened.

Aspar Honda – Hayden has four open, none withdrawn, eight unopened.

Laverty has three open, none withdrawn, nine unopened.

Cardion AB Honda – Abraham has two open, one withdrawn, nine unopened. Also, he has not used an engine since he was injured in FP4 at Catalunya.

LCR Honda – Miller has three opened and none withdrawn, but his #2 has not been used since it raced at Round 2 in Austin. That’s six races without being used once.

Are you wondering if ANY Honda engine has been listed as Withdrawn? The answer is: No. Two Yamaha engines have been withdrawn, both in Bradl’s allocation.

Avintia Ducati – Barbera has two opened, two withdrawn, eight unopened.

Di Meglio has three opened, one withdrawn, eight unopened, but his #2 has not been used since the W-UP at Jerez.

IodaRacing Aprilia – DeAngelis has three open, two withdrawn, seven unopened.

As the season progresses, I doubt that the engine use story will get more interesting for the 12-engine teams. However, with each passing race weekend the factory teams will find the five engine limit a bigger element of their race strategies. Now that Marquez appears to have his chassis trouble sorted by reverting to the 2014 model, a strong charge in rounds 9-18 for third or second place in the championship just might be hindered by that failed #2 from Austin…

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