A V-5 four-stroke will be built by Kenny Roberts and crew, according to this DORNA post. Collaborating with old sponsor Proton, and F1 engine designer, Lotus, the resulting engine, and chassis, will not lack for funds or expertise. Here is the announcement.
At the Malaysian headquarters of the car manufacturer Proton this afternoon, Team KR owned by three-time World Champion Kenny Roberts Senior signed a two-year agreement of mutual collaboration with the Proton factory he has worked with since 1997 and Lotus Engineering, as his GP Motorsports Corporation embarks on a project to design, produce and race a V5 four-stroke engine and motorbike in next season’s MotoGP World Championship.
With the tagline ‘Change the Rules’, the agreement aims to concentrate the expertise and capabilities of all three collaborators to create a top-level machine able to challenge at the highest level of the sport from an independent perspective. Kenny Roberts signed the contract with Proton´s CEO Tengku Tan Sri (Dr.) Mahaleel Tengku Ariff and Lotus Engineering Malaysia´s Director Dave Taitt at a specially arranged media conference in Shah Alam.
After unveiling the new V5 engine which is designed to produce around 220 hp, Roberts also confirmed that Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki would continue to ride the new machine next year after being so successful with the two-stroke this season, and that Bridgestone would continue to supply the team with tyres.
Roberts remarked, ´We´re starting something new here. Lotus has lots of experience in aerodynamics and in combustion and these are things we are going to tap into to help us get further up the grid. The three-cylinder project can be considered a success and this year the bike has shown its potential, but now that project is dead and we aim to create a bike that is primarily competitive in the straightaways and then we will use the knowledge we have gained in the corners´.
