Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Inside Team Roberts tial testing and more as development prQl:eeds. The team has chosen a 60-degree angle between the cylinder banks: they believe that this will allow them to create a more efficiently-packaged motorcycle than Honda's 75.5-degree option. "The narrow angle gives us more flexibility in suspension geometry and wheelbase and a small and moredense package," he reasons. "There isn't much wasted space on this bike." The project is a big challenge for Magee. He designed the Proton twostroke triple, but this is his first Grand Prix four-stroke. "It's a little bit worrying just at this moment in time," he admits. "You're continually thinking that there's some simple little aspect that you've forgotten about, some widget or split pin that's as important as the major parts." The team uses the rapid-prototyping facilities of its partner Proton, the Malaysian car maker which builds 230,000 vehicles a year, to speed the development process. A component is designed on computer in Banbury and e-mailed to Malaysia, where a plastic copy is made and shipped to England within days. A foam version of the plastic component is created to allow the team to cut and shape for fit. When that is agreed, a metal billet is made and machined, and another piece of the bike is complete. This flexible process enables the team to build a rolling chassis long before the final metal parts arrive. I had been told that when I visited the factory, I would be able to see a rolling chassis containing a plastic engine and the first metal pieces crankcases and cylinder heads, rods and pistons. But, hey, raceshop priorities are no respecters of verbal agreements: when I arrived at Banbury, the team had already hacked the aluminum twin-spar chassis in half to make further modifications, and the cases and heads had been shjpped out to local shops for final machining. I couldn't blame the KR crew: they're fighting a brutal schedule to get the V-five designed, manufac· tured, and bench- and track-tested for the first MotoGP tests in January. Rapid reaction time: that is the Proton team's competitive advantage against the Japanese manufacturers, according to general manager Chuck Aksland. "We can make instant decisions if we have to redesign, modify or remanufacture," he explains. "There's no sitting around for debrief after debrief talking about the same question. Ultimately the decision is up to Kenny, Then it's up to me and the 14 DECEMBER 4, 2002' cue I e staff at Banbury to get it designed and manufactured." According to Aksland, the belief that Japanese manufacturers operate at Iightrung speed is something of a myth - and he should know, as he was team coordinator when Roberts was run rung a Grand Prix team with Yamaha in the '90s. When Proton takes its 18-strong crew to the track, they are backed with an impressive range of on-site facilities. "We carry a small machine shop in the truck. We 'have design packages on the computers in the garage, and we have one or two engi· neers with us who can draw components," Aksland explains. "We can do lay· up with carbon-fiber at the track, and we carry a welder with us too. Racing is about reacting to the situation at hand." Aksland is proud of his team's unique way of operating. "If you take a look up and down the paddock, you'll see that we produce more of our motorcycle in-house than any other factory in racing," he says. "The chassis is totally made inhouse. Our tooling and pressings we do ourselves: we make our own radiators and exhaust pipes, and we handle prototyping for the fairing and seat for wind tunnel development." At the age of just 30, engine build manager Stuart Cresswell has a dream job: he's in charge of the assembly of those five-cylinder gems. "We'll have four engine builders working in two teams," he says. "Our initial plan is to build five engines and prove the design before we go too far. Once the season starts, we'll probably supply the team with six to ten engines per race." The in-house philosophy is continued in the electrics room, where harnesses, injectors, data acquisition centers, engine management and traction control equipment is either made or designed. New Zealander Brian Harden, who is responsible for the electrics on McWilliams' bike, says it will have the facility to record up to 128 channels of information, although they'll probably use only 50 to 60 once the season starts. "As far as Grand Prix teams go, we probably record more information than most," he says. The design and manufacture of the carbon·fiber fairing and bodywork is being handled by former Ferrari techni· cal guru John Barnard at his workshop in Guildford, England. Aerodynamics will be tested in a Formula One windtunnel with a moving-ground facility. "It allows the front wheel to rotate at up to 100 mph, and you can measure the interaction of the air between the wheel and the fairing," says Bowen. Other top names to join the project include Americans Rob Muzzy, who will help with engine development, n __ s and Bud Aksland, father of Chuck, who will install the engine and chassis dynos in the factory. The team will also have access to the facilities of the Lotus car company, which is also owned by Proton. In one sense the V-five is a step back from Roberts' image as the iconoclast, the one who does things differently. Honda has already set the benchmark for MotoGP-era motorcycles with a similar layout. So is Kenny now copying Honda instead of trying to prove them wrong? "We looked at a three, a four and a five," he says. "We decided on a Vfive before we had seen the Honda Vfive. A V-five has the same weight as a four, but one more piston." Chuck Aksland amplifies: "For the last few years we've raced with the bike that had the least amount of power. Now it will be nice to have the same amount of power as other factories. The results we have achieved with the two-stroke are because it handles well. If we can carry that over to a bike that's got a lot of horsepow. er, we should be okay." The V-five uses a 60-degree angle between the front bank of three cylinders and the rear pair. Roberts' team hopes that will produce a more compact motorcycle than the wider angle selected by Honda. But will the KR technicians be able to retain that agility with the fourstroke's added power and weight? "We'll see," says Aksland. "The weight distribution, center of gravity and chassis geometry will all be new for us. But it will help that we're putting the gas tank under the seat instead of in the conventional place." Karl Morris says that a rival team manager has told him: "We have seen how you're makjng these positive changes within your team. A lot of people in Grand Prix racing are uncomfortable with change, and they're uncomfortable with what you're doing. They can see the direction the sport has got to go in, and you're leading it." So Roberts and his gang have got the opposition worried. Now all the Roberts boys have got to do is go out there and beat them. CN Late November Engine components ready for assembly December _ Dyno-test first engine Late December Assemble first complete bike, run it on chilly British racetrack/airfield December 25 Day off January 28 .................................•.....• First MotoGP official tests February 21 -23 , Jerez, Spain test ' Esloril, Portugal test February 26-27 March 15-16 Barcelona, Spain test Grand Prix of Japan: race debut April 6 ,

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