Roberts won't rule out racing KTM engine.
Proton KR team principal Kenny Roberts, whose Banbury based outfit are due to conduct their first proper track test with the KTM engine today at Estoril, has stated that he hasn't ruled out racing the V4 should tests prove positive.
Team KR's own V5 powerplant is rumoured to produce just 185hp, while the KTM V4 - developed by the Austrian factory for their own MotoGP project, which was cancelled without a motorcycle ever having been built - is believed to deliver some 230hp, matching the likes of Honda and Yamaha.
Proton KR team principal Kenny Roberts, whose Banbury based outfit are due to conduct their first proper track test with the KTM engine today at Estoril, has stated that he hasn't ruled out racing the V4 should tests prove positive.
Team KR's own V5 powerplant is rumoured to produce just 185hp, while the KTM V4 - developed by the Austrian factory for their own MotoGP project, which was cancelled without a motorcycle ever having been built - is believed to deliver some 230hp, matching the likes of Honda and Yamaha.
As such, it's easy to see the attraction of combining forces in perhaps a 'Formula One' type agreement that would see KTM supplying and updating the engine, while Team KR provide a chassis and race the bike.
Today's test, with Aoki in the saddle, will be the first time the KR chassis and KTM engine has been tested in anger, although the Japanese rider did a few shakedown laps at Brno last weekend to check for potentially time-wasting teething troubles.
"We will be testing the KTM V4 engine in basically the same chassis we use for our V5," stated Roberts Sr. "It should be interesting, because it is designed with a different philosophy from ours.
"KTM also want to assess the performance and potential for the first time. We have no plans to race the KTM motor, although I wouldn't necessarily rule it out," added the American racing legend.
