MotoGP fans will be in for a special treat when the Australian GP rolls around the weekend of October 14th to 16th, because GP and Australian legends Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan will be riding a series of demonstration laps at the iconic Phillip Island circuit.

The day will carry extra significance for Gardner, who won the first two Australian Motorcycle Grands Prix at Phillip Island in 1989 and 1990, as he will also be joined by his 13 year-­old son Remy.

Remy, who is currently competing in the 250cc Moto3 class in the Spanish Campeonato Mediterraneo de Velocidad with a Moriwaki 250 and won round 4 of this highly competitive junior championship, will be riding alongside his father with Honda’s Moto3 bike, the NSF250R.

Moto3 4-strokes will be replacing the current 125cc GP class in 2012.

It’s always a great pleasure to ride the Phillip Island circuit, it’s an enjoyable layout and really fast which I love. I enjoyed a lot of special moments of my career there,” said the former 1987 World Champion. “I see it as a real honour to ride on my home track in front of my fans with my son, I’m expecting it to be a really special moment in my life. It’s great to be able to share a place and a sport that I am so passionate about with my family”.

And on riding side by side with his son, Gardner declared, “He’s too fast for me now so I prefer not to race. He’s cheeky and wants to prove he can beat me. It’s lucky I will be on a 1000cc and he will be on a 250cc.”

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The 125cc class will be officially pronounced dead in 2012 and will be replaced by Moto3, 250cc four-stroke, single-cylinder motorcycles and marking the end of two-stroke GP racing which has been around since the series began in 1949.

The idea behind the shift is to quote RC’s Executive Vice-President Shuhei Nakamoto is to “give young riders a good racing machine to help them learn the basics and gain experience to one day reach the top class.”

Isn’t that the same reasoning behind Moto2? Well, poor Toni Elias isn’t exactly making a splash in MotoGP after winning the 2010 Moto2 championship and he previously had five years of experience racing MotoGP machines (Yamaha, Honda and Ducati).

Here’s a video of former 125cc and 50occ World Champion Alex Criville lapping the circuit of Montmelò with Honda’s new Moto3 racer, the NSF250R,

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Honda has officially unveiled the new NSF250R Moto3 250cc four-stroke racer with Executive Vice-President Shuhei Nakamoto and Project Development leader Yoshiyuki Kurayoshi of Honda Racing Corporation doing the honours this afternoon at Montmelo.

The NSF250R will be available for purchase for € 23,600 starting from December 2011.

Here’s Honda’s press release with technical specs:

Continue reading: Honda NSF250R officially unveiled in Spain

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We’ve already seen a couple of photos and a teaser video of Honda’s new Moto3 now dubbed NSF250R, but will Honda has decided to present the bike officially during the Catalunya GP weekend with former World Champion Alex Criville riding demonstration laps.

Moto3 will replace the current 125cc class in 2012.

Honda press release after the jump.

Continue reading: Honda to officially present NSF250R in Catalunya

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Honda has finally released the first real clear photo of its already hyped 250cc four-strokeMoto3 racer, which has been given a new name, NSF250R.

Previously called the NRS250 (NRS for “Next Racing Standard”) the Honda NSF250R inherits elements from the Honda RS125R 125 Grand Prix race bike and will be offered to teams that will be competing in the 2012 Moto3 World Championship, that replaces the current two-stroke 125cc class.

Dorna will be dropping the 125GP class for Moto3 in order to help young riders climb classes easier, which is their PR for we want to make racing less expensive so we get more teams and manufacturers on the grid.

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