Imagine... an Open MotoGP class KR-Honda

Imagine if the 2006 Team Roberts Honda had been given the new Open MotoGP class advantages.

30 Jan 2014

Kenny Roberts Jnr, Rossi, Portuguese MotoGP Race 2006
© Gold and Goose

We said it when the CRT class was born, but now imagine what the likes of Team Roberts, WCM and even Ilmor may have achieved if the 2014 Open class existed when they were in MotoGP.

The Team Roberts example is the biggest 'what if'.

The Honda RCV-powered KR chassis, which Kenny Roberts Jr took to within 0.176s of victory at Estoril in 2006 (pictured), would be an exact fit for the new Open class.

The KR machine would therefore have been eligible for four litres more race fuel, seven more engine changes during the season and (assuming the split tyre choice continues in 2014) softer rear rubber compared to the Factory class bikes - which it instead faced on equal terms in 2006 and 2007.

Roberts Jr finished sixth overall in the 2006 World Championship, claiming two podiums, four front row starts and a fastest race lap - results that the top Open class rider would be delighted to achieve in 2014.

The only Open class disadvantage, in terms of the technical rules, is use of the control ECU software.