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Proton Team KR ´over the moon´ with first
appearance of the V5
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Proton
unveiled their eagerly awaited new V5 machine at the weekend during
practice for the Grand Prix Polini of France. Jeremy McWilliams took
the bike for a spin in the wet conditions before really getting down
to action the following day for the first serious bouts of racetrack
testing with a view towards Mugello in two weeks time.
Motograndprix.com grabbed a few words from team boss Kenny Roberts
and McWilliams after a memorable GP, not only for wheeling out the
new motorcycle but also with the Irishman scoring an impressive
sixth position on possibly the last appearance by a two-stroke in
the class. |
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The last
few days have just been a shakedown test,´ commented Roberts. ´The
bike has never seen a racetrack and we are over the moon about the
performance. With a shakedown it usually takes two or three days to
find a way around a racetrack and we are there already and virtually
past that stage. In the wet it was better than a lot of the field.
While we are very encouraged at this stage we are trying to keep our
feet on the ground because it is easy to get your hopes up. |
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This is the most competitive
form of motorcycle racing and the highest level of engineering, we have
a lot of testing to do to be competitive and we are not going to be able
to come out and win a race straightaway.´
´We´ll be testing intensively
now before Italy. It sounds easy but if something silly breaks like the
clutch or the gearbox we literally have to redesign and manufacturer
before the bike can run again. It’s not as easy for the other teams
whereby they just call a Japanese company and order the parts we cannot
do that. A little thing like a 10 dollar part can set us back by three
weeks.´ |
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The four-stroke roaring out of
the pitlane was a culmination of hard work and effort for well over a
year. ´We started the process of drawing on a napkin, transferring to
paper and moving from paper to castings while everybody else was testing
and racing,´ said Roberts. ´It´s almost like giving birth to something!
We were holding our breath that it would start and run and we did have a
few hiccups, we’ve blown up two or three motors, we had oil-pick up
problems, crankshaft trouble, sump problems and general teething
gremlins over the last two months. |
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´To actually see it on a race
track and perform the way we thought and anticipated is quite a big load
off my shoulders. I can sleep a lot better tonight.´
McWilliams was under no
illusions as to the nature of the different beast he will now be able to
steer on the racetrack and took the new bike for a spin last week in
England on Turweston airstrip before it’s debut GP appearance. |
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´When you’re riding it you can feel a much
heavier motorcycle with a lot more power,´ the 39 year old understated.
´It was quite daunting getting on something like that because at this
circuit the first turn is pretty quick, it took me a while before I
talked myself into really hitting that one! However once you’ve got the
trust of the motorcycle you can start putting fast laps together. It has
potential on the dyno and the team have a lot of experience with the
chassis anyway so it’s just a matter of getting the whole package
working. |
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There are things to work on
like getting used to a new slipper clutch and I’ve have to learn the
injection system all over again that but I’m young enough to adapt!
I’ve been told we are riding
the new bike in Mugello and to be honest it’s the only thing we can do.
To go to that circuit with the three cylinder we’re just going to look
silly; the difference in speed it too much now. The V5 still has a way
to go but it feels great. I was only maybe a second and a half off my
best time on the three cylinder in the wet, we’ve just got to make it
work in the dry now and hopefully we will get some results in the tests.
In the first part of the GP I was fighting a lost cause, it so
different that we should not even be allowed in the same race, it’s
dangerous being so slow in a straight line. Our settings were for the
wet and track was both wet and dry so we were pleased to come away with
sixth.´ |
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