From a press release:

HAYDON SIGNS FOR FOGGY PETRONAS RACING

18 December 2001

CARL Fogarty today made James Haydon the first signing for his new Foggy Petronas Racing team.

The 27-year-old from Buckinghamshire will ride the new Foggy FP1 bike in the World Superbike championship.

The exciting British talent has signed a two-year deal with the new team, which has been funded for five years by Malaysian petroleum giants Petronas.

Fogarty said: “I have been impressed with James for some time. He rides the bike hard and that is what we need for this project – someone to push the machine to its limits.

“He has also had the right attitude from the very first discussions. He realises what an exciting opportunity this is and he wants to make the most of this chance.

“I have always said that I wanted a British rider in my team and I hope that I can use all my experience to turn the potential that is there for all to see into results on the track for James.”

Haydon, who rode for the Virgin Mobile AIWA Yamaha Team in the British Superbike championship last season, realised the chance to team up with Foggy Petronas Racing was too good to turn down.

He said: “This is a one-off opportunity and a great chance.

“I have been working hard to go into World Championships for the last few years and I would like to thank Rob McElnea, my team boss last year, and everyone at Yamaha, Virgin and AIWA for allowing me to take this fantastic opportunity to develop a new bike and make the most of the Formula One technology funded by Petronas.

“The more I think about it, the more pumped up I get and I can’t wait to get on the bike and start testing.

“There are not many riders who have Carl’s standing in the sport and I delighted he has shown this faith in my ability. It’s a new role for him but he feels he can help me as a rider and I expect him to be hard but fair.”

Fogarty is hoping to complete his line-up before Christmas so that both new riders can become involved in developing the Foggy FP1 bike, which will use a modified version of the GP1 engine jointly developed by Petronas and Sauber Petronas Engineering, before the team’s planned start date at the ninth round of the World Superbike championship at Laguna Seca.