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/128207
- .... _: • • -1• .... .., ......... .I'I~ ~ •... . Happenings In Motorcycling Miguel Art Artist Lee Bivens (www.ArtLee.com) is introducing limited edition lithographs featuring none other than Miguel DuHamel, the recent Daytona 200 winner. Although Lee has been commissioned by athletes in several different sports, his best selling and most impressive works have often been Miguel pieces. These particular Miguel prints are limited to only 100 artist proofs and are hand signed by both the artist and Miguel. They are in full color, printed on 110 lb. museum-quality paper and measure 19" x 2]" in size. Visit Lee's website at www.Artlee.com or call Lee directly at 770/822-2333 for more details or to place your order. Credit cards are accepted over the phone for quick UPS insured delivery in heavyduty shipping tubes. By ALAN CATHCART • • Foggy In The Clear? The satisfactory debut of the three-cylinder 900cc Foggy-Petronas FP-l at the opening round of the 2003 World Superbike series at Valencia on March 2, when lead rider Troy Corser put the brand-new bike on the front row for both its first two races and finished in the top ten (actually, seventh overall) in the second one, confirms that the Anglo-Malaysian project with its Swiss-built engine is very much on the right road, It still has some way to go before it can be considered a serious challenger to the dominant factory Ducatis, but it's certainly at present the most spectacular bike in the SBK field, with its trademark names belching from the triple-exit exhaust under the seal, braking into turns on the overrunl The fact that Corser and teammate James Haydon were on the pace and each finished one race in the points will have encouraged Petronas management in believing that their decision to fund the development of the bike to assist in promoting Malaysia as a center of technical excellence was not misplaced, While Carl Fogarty's race team continues to focus on developing the Superbike contender further, attention now switches to the street version, of which 77 examples were constructed In Britain and certified vi.a FIM inspection on January 25 this year as haVing been made, in order to gain homologation for Superbike racing. Six of these are currently undergoing extensive road tests in the UK before moving to Spain for hot weather testing once spring arrives, However, Petronas has decided not to release the remainder of these for sale until all 150 examples of the first batch of bikes called for under SBK rules have been assembled, which under FIM rules must take place before July 26, six months after the Initial inspection. In fact, on the day of the FP·]'s Valencia race debut. the parts needed to assemble the remalnder of the batch, totaling 73 machines, were already on the high seas, heading for Malaysia, where they 101m be constructed locally by a Malaysian workforce in a purpose-built factory outside Kuala Lumpur. Once this has been done, it's planned to officially unveil the streetbike in a state occasion in Kuala Lumpur with (it's hoped) Malaysian prime minister Dr. Mohammed Mahathir handling the duties as a mark of the support he's already expressed for not only the Foggy-Petronas FP-] Superbike project, but also the concurrent Proton V5 MotoGP operation likewise based in the UK, at the Team Roberts HQ at Banbury. Petronas sources reveal that, after the first 150 total street replicas of the FP-] Superbike have been completed (expected to cost in excess of 530,000 each, since they will be very close in specification to Corser's and Haydon's racers, even though there are no plans at present to offer a race-ready customer replica for sale to privateer tearns). plans call for a volume production street version costing around half that to be entirely manufactured and assembled in Malaysia, to go on sale in 2004. This will be a full l000cc version, to tie in wfth the new World Superbike regulations coming into force next season, when the Foggy team race bikes wUl also grow in capacity to a full one liter. Given that the high-revving engine originally started out as a 990cc Sauber-designed motor for MotoGP, this should prove to be no problem. Complete with its fan-pleasing fire show, the FoggyPetronas Fp·1 made a successful debut at the opening round of the World Superbike Championship at Valencia. Plans now call for the manufacturer to complete its buildup of 150 units to satisfy FIM homologation before moving on toward a volume production street version. To cast your vote, log on to http://www;cyclenews.com. A. Yes B.No 6 APRIL 2, 2003' cue • e n e _ s