Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Briefly... Proton KR To Get Michelins, Will Race The phoenix of the MotoGP paddock is I the Proton KR with the KTM engine, ridden for only the second time by new rider Shane Byrne after first tests at Valencia a week before and literally days after it was confirmed that they will be supplied with Michelin tires. Team manager Chuck Aksland had earlier said that if they could not get Michelins, and if Bridgestone were not then able to fill the gap, they would not be able [0 race. New rider Byrne was placed 21 st at the end of three days of testing at Catalunya, and the bike twice suffered Continued from page 9 the new engine. Kawasaki was originally thought to have grafted a balance shaft onto the front of the crankcase to liberate designers from the two-up/two-down format that then dictates evenly spaced firing intervals. This is not the case, leading to intriguing speculation as to how Kawasaki has arranged its "big bang" timing without triggering fearsome vibration, It is possible that Kawi has not changed crankshaft timing, or perhaps by only a few degrees, but is firing two cylinders together or almost together to introduce an offbeat pulse. Vibration would be affected but not terminally, and it is, after all, a race bike - not a street bike. for both companies. We had our own problems and weren't able to help them with the tire development they need - they really need a Honda team to be able to develop," The KTM package had been put together with great difficulty, and with help from Dorna. Roberts would not say if they had received financial support from the Spanish company but said, "They helped by AMA Sports, the Amateur and Pro-Am ring on the oil filler, which meant a smoky allowing us to continue racing with a one-rider team run into the pit, but the bike was easily instead of two." Motorcyclist Association (AMA), has announced that Ken Saillant will join its staff as Track Racing Manager on March 21, 200S. In his role with AHA Sports, Saillant will oversee operations of flat track, supermoto, road racing, ice racing and speedway disciplines, He'll report to AMA Sports senior director Douglas Neubauer, "Ken has a wealth of knowledge and experience to contribute to AMA Sports, along with his minor failures. The first was a simple O· fixed, On the third day, an ancillary component failure meant the machine dumped all its oil on the track, causing the following Max Biaggi to crash and bringing the red fiags out. The oil-stained bike was again easily repaired. competition division of the American They had also dictated rider choice, preferring Byrne to the team's choice of Jeremy McWilliams, on the grounds that he was a better long-term prospect, for the British TV interest they hope to foster. The KTM engines had proved impressively powerful and reliable compared passion as a true racing enthusiast," Team KR lost the bulk of its Proton to their own V-fiVe, "but sponsorship at the end of last season, they are still prototype lifeblood of motorcycle competition." A racer himself in the I 980s, Saillant became though the bike still carries the name of engines," he said. a race promoter under the name Fast Track "This is really like a first test and hasn't gone too badly," Aksland said. "We're not too far off, and the other guys have been testing for months." Neubauer said, 'i\dding Ken to our team is the next step in shaping our programs to berter serve the racers who are the "1 will never build anoth- the Malaysian automaker. Bad results in 2004 confirmed the withdrawal of full er engine. Ours was a big disappointment, "We wanted to work towards a very backing, between the poor power and perform- but we had to build it to find that out," Roberts said. "We have designed and pro- top-end road bike, with 200 machines a year - and we would still like to do that if ance of its V-fIVe engine, and of its Dunlop duced a very. very competitive chassis." we can agree with an engine manufactur- tires. The Proton relationship had been undermined from the start by the death of er," Roberts said, KTM could not be ruled out of that possibility, he said. Michael Scott as the Proton was caught Team owner Kenny Roberts said: "Last year Dunlop couldn't help us, and we couldn't help them. It was a real struggle the man with whom the contract had been agreed, Roberts said. Racing. He promoted the 1997 AHA Amateur Nationals and co-promoted (with the AHA) the 199B and 1999 events. In 2000, he became race director for the AHA Sports Dirt Track Grand Championships. Since then, he's worked with regional and national ice racing, dirt track and speedway competition, and as an assistant director of AHA Vintage Motorcycle Days. Saillant also has represented AHA Sports on the AMA Congress track committee. Yamaha's New Pipes The factory Yamahas displayed two different exhaust systems at the big MotoGP test in Spain, March 2S-27 - one for Valentino Rossi, the other for new teammate Colin Edwards. Both are four-into-one, but Rossi's retains the long tailpipe with built-in silencer, while Edwards' bike has a single big-bore stubby exhaust terminating just by his right foot. The American said he prefers the power delivery, while it was common cause that Rossi prefers a quieter bike so as not to drown out the sound of anyone who might be near him. But at earlier tests this year, Rossi said he preferred the long pipe but without a silencer, and the noise reduction was inline with Yamaha philosophy. The system is different from the stubby four-into-four tested at the end of last year, To celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, veteran motorsports photographers Dan and Vickie Mahony are planning to devote much more time to flat track motorcycle racing than in recent years, The Mahonys, whose work has graced dozens of major (and minor) motorsports publications worldwide, have reached an agreement with the Vintage Dirt Track Racers Association to be its official photographers for the 2005 season. As well as covering the races for various weeklies, monthlies and websites, they will also have thousands photos on display, covering more than five decades of motor sports, with the emphasis on flat track, "We need to get back to the racing and the people we really like, nat track," Dan Mahony said, "even if it does mean a lot of driving and sleepless nights, We'd better do it while we still can." Watch for them in the pits, or call 417/993-5 159, Suzuki is claiming a 20-horsepower hike for its latest MotoGP engine, putting output at "more than 240 hp," according to engine designer Kunio Arase. This is short of the top machines, with Honda claiming a 7 bhp Continued on page 13 CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 30, 2005 11

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