MotoGP's system of feeder championships is introducing a new class name, Moto4, as part of a further consolidation of the road to MotoGP under series promoter Dorna.
MotoGP chief sporting officer Carlos Ezpeleta and FIM president Jorge Viegas announced a host of rebrandings within the system during a Friday press conference at the Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao.
The two primary feeders into grand prix racing's lightest class, Moto3, have both been renamed, with Junior GP (which used to be Campeonato de Espana de Velocidad Moto3, before receiving a more international name) becoming Moto3 Junior and the KTM-supplied Red Bull-backed Rookies Cup becoming the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
But the Talent Cup ecosystem under these, featuring bikes that can be best referred to as 'pre-Moto3', has now adopted the Moto4 moniker - with the series renamed accordingly, to Moto4 European Cup, Moto4 Asia Cup, Moto4 Northern (European) Cup, Moto4 British Cup and Moto4 Latin (American) Cup.
The European Cup, in its seven seasons with the Honda NSF250R (a cheaper, standardised, considerably less-powerful version of its Moto3 offering), has produced champions including current Moto2 stars Manu Gonzalez and David Alonso and Moto3 rookie sensation Maximo Quiles.
The system of series below Moto4 will now be known as MotoMini instead of MiniGP.
The overall rebranding has the presumably unintended effect of bringing the FIM prototype racing ladder closer to what the FIA has in place below Formula 1, although while Formula 4 series are primarily national championships in designation, the Moto4 series are primarily wider-regional.
