On the heels of news that John Kocinski could not come to terms to race a Ducati in AMA Superbike next year, Yamaha has announced that Kocinski has been signed as chief test rider for its 2002 four-stroke GP roadracer.
Kocinski, who is a wealthy real estate developer, apparently could not pass up the chance to develop Yamaha’s exciting new GP machine — a machine which will usher in a new era of 500 GP roadracing (along with the other four-stroke prototype manufacturers).
We wouldn’t be surprised at all if Kocinski got Yamaha to agree that he will be one of the first riders of this machine in the 2002 GP season, as well.
We also believe that, housed within the prototype Kocinski will be testing is a 990cc in-line four-cylinder engine with features destined for the next road-going R1.
