Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128172
secure d'Antin's franchised entry. Biaggi will only get a "production" Honda, but his stature in Italy is thought to have attracted a new sponsor· Italian building-material suppliers Mapel. Kenny Roberts Jr, is another not yet signed for next year, and though talks with Suzuki are well advanced, according to team manager Garry Taylor, the latest rumors link him with the vacant saddle at Kawasaki. Alex Barros is another name on the Kawasaki shopping list. Their top seat had been earmarked for Loris Capirossi, but it seems certain that he will go to Ducati, after being told that Kawasaki will not have Michelin tires next season. There are complex politi- cal ramifications. however, with suggestions that Michelin's decision might be different if another rider were involved, having a strong desire to push Capirossi to Ducati. The second Kawasaki seat is most likely to go to Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt, from Australia. Kenny Roberts has signed U.S. racing legend Rob Muzzy to join his drive to develop a V-five four-stroke in time for next year's racing season. Muzzy will act as a consultant to Proton Team KR, joining the in-house team including long-standing tuner Bud Aksland and design engineer John Magee in the job of readying the allnew independent V -five for the track for next season. Muzzy, who has prepared title-winning U.S, and World Superbikes for Kawasaki and Honda, wiil continue to run his performance parts business, and the factory Kawasaki AMA drag racing program. Parts are already being made for the V-five motor, and bench testing should begin late in November or early December, according to Roberts. Successful former Ferrari and Maclaren F1 designer John Barnard was present in the Proton Pit - and may consider working with the team in the future, as another F1 luminary to have his Interest sparked after the switch to fourstrokes. ''I'm just here as a visitor. to have a look. But I've always been fascinated by bikes, because they appear to be so simple, but dynamically they are very complicated," said Barnard. "There's more to them than meets the eye. You think you can see obvious answers, but it tums out they've all been tned before, and people have been working on these problems for years, - he said. The last bike GP he had attended was in 1998, after Roberts had commissioned an experimental carbonfiber chassis for the three-cylinder 500, then racing under the Modenas name. -There are a number of people in Kenny's team now who used to work with me in F1, and actually they suggested I should come along to have a look," said Barnard. The paddock atmosphere was refreshing, he said. "It's like Fl was 20 years ago friendlier, with less press and corporate stuff. It's more comfortable. There's a chance I might get involved, making a some parts for Kenny's project." Barnard now runs his own engineering consulting and subcontracting company. "But I'm a designer, and that's what interests me," he said. Roberts commented: "We've been friends for a long time, and the fourstrokes have made it more interesting for people like him. Will he work with us? Who knows?" Former Fl driver Jackie leu was also in the paddock at Portugal. taking a tide on the Marlboro Yamaha two-seater, and talking of how his own hopes of being a bike racer were thwarted at an early age. "I've always loved bike racing," he said. Pole qualifier Carlos Checa had a lucky escape on the first day of practice, when he had a highsider crash right under the wheels of McWilliams' Proton. The Ulsterman missed hitting the fallen Ml Yamaha by inches, and missed Checa' s head by an even smaller margin ... My heart was pounding," he said later. An attempt to sidestep the MotoGP prototype rules has been thwarted by Doma, who turned away a proposed wildcard entry for the last round in Valencia of an R117 hybrid Yamaha, built by former GP tuner Martiel Garcia. This mounts an R 1 engine, suitably sleeved down in capacity, In an R7 chassis. Shortage of power was not thought to be a problem. cue' e n e _ S • SEPTEMBER 18,2002 15