FEATURE I PROTON KR3
P86
I
t was murder, plain and simple.
Murder by committee. Two-
strokes got the chop.
Among the victims were some of
the most elegantly beautiful racing
motorcycles ever made, and cer-
tainly the fastest of their kind.
The V3 Protons, created by a
legend and crafted by engineer-
ing artists, were cut short in their
prime. Not before, however, one of
the lithe, lightweight triples claimed
a final pole position ahead of the
new MotoGP monsters at Phillip
Island. Jeremy McWilliams set the
fastest-ever lap of what was then
the fastest track on the calendar.
That achievement was a final
high point, confirming the Proton's
status as the fastest two-stroke GP
bike ever. A fact confirmed by the
best two-stroke laps and race times
at several other circuits in a 2002
season that redrew the floorplan of
motorcycle grand prix racing.
It was an interim year, with
500cc two-strokes permitted to
continue against the new Mo-
toGP four-strokes, whose 990cc
maximum capacity distinguished
them from lowly production-based
Superbikes.
THE THE
WORLD'S WORLD'S
FASTEST FASTEST
TWO- TWO-
STROKE STROKE
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MS ARCHIVES, GOLD & GOOSE
