Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

UPDATE They'd tested prototypes before then, but not the race bikes. Neither machine finished in Malaysia. Bayle's broke a crankshaft and Kenny Roberts Jr.'S bike broke a small part in the rear suspension. "We thought after Malaysia we'd get killed here," Roberts said. "In actual fact we're doing much better than that." Bayle and Roberts Jr. qualified 13th and 15th, respectively, at Suzuka with. Bayle less than four-tenths of a second off the second row after a problem-filled weekend which saw him vent his frustrations to the team. His machines have suffered two crankshaft failures, a broken connecting rod, and a fuel-supply problem which stranded him on the course at Suzuka. It was a simple problem, a $20 connection to the fuel pump, but it had come loose and the bike ran out of gas on the first lap of practice. "It's a very complex system that we probably started too soon," Roberts admitted between practice sessions at Suzuka. Though many teams rely on a simple gravity feed for fuel delivery, the Modenas uses a fuel pump which guar- By Henny Ray Abrams Photos by Gold & Goose acing is having the opportunity to win. We're going to be able to have the opportunity to do that in the very· near future. If we don't, I want to know why we don't. I want answers to that." So said Kenny Roberts between sessions at the Japanese Grand Prix, the race where, a day later, his revolutionary Modenas KRV3 would score the first Grand Prix points of its very short life. Just 13 weeks after construction had begun on the new Modenas race bikes, Jean-Michel Bayle nursed it home in 14th place, the engine vibrating, the fuel running out, and Bayle wondering if it would make it to the finish. Had there not been ominous sounds coming from below, the Frenchman might have been able to improve his position: He ran near the fight for 11th much of the race. Finishing should have been cause enough for celebration, but Roberts wasn't doing cartwheels. He knows what the machine is capable of and where it's going and, for him, it hasn't gotten there fast enough. "We've got to make better parts," Roberts said. "They've assured me that's happening. The key components are not the quality they should be. They're way off. We hope in Jerez (for the Spanish Grand Prix on May 4) to fix it. We know we have the horsepower when we get the parts made to specifications. If we do that we'II have a lot better engine. Right now it's just work. There's no more panic to get the parts made." . Most of the parts are made by various sub-contractors in the area surrounding the team's shop in Banbury, England, and the motors are assembled by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. Roberts has made it clear that the quality of the parts is not acceptable and has been assured that the new parts will be made to stricter tolerances. Having crankshafts that separate is but one of the gremlins the Modenas faces. There is a domino effect to the various problems the team faces and time is the greatest enemy. The sponsor commitments came very late which delayed production of the race bikes to the last minute. Marlboro had reorganized several of their sponsorship packages, both in the World Championships - they dropped Team Rainey Yamaha - and in Formula One. "They knew when they didn't make the commitment to go racing what the consequences were," Roberts said. Roberts had prepared his sponsors for the possibility that the team wouldn't make it to the first two races. "If something happened in a long. lead time item, like a crankshaft, we would have been forced to skip the first two races," Roberts said. "It takes us about six weeks, six to eight weeks to get a crankshaft built. It was order them that day (when the money came through) or we wouldn't have made it. They were different specifications than the prototypes. They were not okay. The engine is not near its spec." And the spec is already changing. By the time Roberts got the money to build the machines the season was fast (Above) JeanMichel Bayle at speed on the Modenas KRV3. (Right) Kenny Roberts Jr., Bayle and Kenny Roberta Sr. discuss the new bike. approaching and the timetable had drastically shrunk. That meant that anything that was built would be built late and might have to suffice for the first two races. Not only that, but the riders wouldn't get any seat time on the race bikes until practice began for the Malaysian GP. Once that happened they'd learn more. And they did. "The first test in anger with no rpm limit was the first practice in Malaysia," Roberts said. antees a more constant fuel flow to the Roberts carburetors under all conditions. "A connector didn't get connected all the way," Roberts explained. "It doesn't supply the float bowls with fuel." The team had hoped to have new parts at Suzuka, but none arrived and they had no·choice but to carry on. "We didn't get any of the stuff we were supposed to get," lamented Roberts. "We were supposed to have new crankshafts here, didn't get them in

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