Roberts Back In the Saddle?!
ROBERTS BACK IN THE SADDLE?!
KENNY ROBERTS ROADracing again? Not quite, but as promised, the three-time 500cc world champion was first to swing a leg over his upstart V-Three 500cc grand prix racer. “I always said that I wanted to be the first (to ride the bike),” he says. “It was exciting, but I won’t be satisfied until we win the world championship.”
Designed and built by Marlboro Team Roberts and Tom Walkinshaw Racing in England’s Formula One heartland, the so-called Modenas KR3which draws its name from an emerging motorcycle manufacturer in Malaysia-is a “totalconcept bike.” Explains Roberts, “The whole thing was designed as a package, right down to the cooling system, location of the cylinders, exhaust and so on.”
Engineer Warren Willing reports the liquid-cooled Triple is currently producing about 150 horsepower.
“We’re right on target,” he proclaims. “We know the potential is there, it’s just fine-tuning.”
The diminutive, 253-pound machine will make its race debut at the season-opening Malaysian GP with Kenny Roberts Jr. and motocrosserturned-roadracer Jean-Michel Bayle at the controls.
—Matthew Miles
