From a press release issued by Proton Team KR:

For immediate release

FINAL CONFLICT FOR PLUCKY PROTON TWO-STROKE

The Ricardo Tormo circuit at Valencia will be a fitting venue for the last hurrah for the racing two-strokes. With its towering grandstands and steep hillsides crammed to bursting with avid fans, and a slow and tight circuit that should favour the 500 two-strokes against the clumsier 990cc four-strokes, Sunday’s Valencia GP should be a dramatic show-down.

Proton Team KR riders Jeremy McWilliams and Nobuatsu Aoki expect to be at the forefront of the final conflict. The Proton pairing have given the lightweight three-cylinder KR3 its strongest ever season of racing. The elegant and agile little two-stroke has not only mercilessly harried the big new 990cc four-strokes, which have dominated the reshaped premier class in their first season, but more significantly challenging the remaining four-cylinder factory two-strokes that were the KR3’s original target.

McWilliams and Aoki have been getting stronger and stronger in the Proton KR3’s final season – each rider’s first on the lightweight alternative racer. Challenging one another in a perfect example of friendly in-team rivalry, the two riders have forced the pace of development of the soon-to-be-retired racer. As a result, it has achieved new levels of performance as the dedicated team of England-based engineers apply the final polishing touches to a mature and well-integrated design.

Next year, Proton Team KR wheels out its own purpose-built 990cc V5 prototype four-stroke, to tackle the major factories head on with an equivalent heavyweight. This is a change of policy, after six years of David-and-Goliath struggle with the lightweight three-cylinder machine, which traded ultimate horsepower for better handling, braking and higher corner speed.

Team owner Kenny Roberts – racing legend and former triple World Champion – admits that even he was taken by surprise at how competitive his new pairing proved. “To tell the truth, it cost us some time on the four-stroke project, because they kept our engineers busy. They were riding the bike harder than it had ever been ridden, and finding some new weaknesses as a result. It took some time to improve our reliability record,” said Roberts.

By the midpoint of the season, the Proton was serving up one surprise after another, even at tracks not reckoned to suit its particular strengths. In Brazil and Australia McWilliams not only qualified on the front row of the grid, but also set the fastest-ever two-stroke laps of those circuits … records that are likely to stand when two-strokes are phased out for 2003.

Valencia is a last chance for the team to show what the Proton two-stroke concept can do.

The team is fielding test rider David Garcia at his final home GP as a wild card entry, bringing strength up to three. It will be the first top-class GP this year for the rider from Almeria, who turned 24 in September, though he competed at Brno as a replacement 250 rider.

“Our first aim to have all three fiish the race,” said team manager Chuck Aksland. “But we’re thinking that we could do better than some people expect.

“Valencia is another circuit where the emphasis is not on top speed, and our bike has gone well there in the past.

“The key this year will be the Bridgestone tyres. At the IRTA test there before the season, with very low temperatures, we left with the understanding that there was a lot of work to done to make the tyres competitive. Since then we’ve seen that Bridgestone have done a lot of work, and made very big steps. This time temperatures will be higher, which will also help them,” said Aksland.

“Maybe it will be another surprise GP,” he concluded.

The Valencia race is the 16th and final round of the MotoGP championship, which started in Japan on April 7.

JEREMY McWILLIAMS – HARD BRAKING WILL HELP US
We struggled a bit on our first outing at Valencia – but everything is a lot different now, especially the tyres. Generally we go better at circuits with faster corners, where we can really exploit our higher corner speed. Valencia is a very tight track. But at the same time it’s not a place where there are straights after the corners, and the bigger bikes won’t really be able to use their extra power. We’ll gain in all the hard braking and the corner entries, and I’m sure I can get a good result in what might be my last two-stroke race.

NOBUATSU AOKI – SOMETHING TO RIDE HARD ON SUNDAY
The way the team has been able to get the most out of my bike at the last few races has given me such a lot of confidence. Also the way the tyres have improved. On race day I always have something that I can push really hard. Valencia is that sort of track anyway: you need to be aggressive to make any progress. I think the Proton will be very good round there, and much easier to ride fast than the heavier motorcycles.

BUSTER ROBERTS – AN APPRECIATION
Buster Roberts, father and grandfather to world champions Kenny Roberts Senior and Junior, passed away on the night of Sunday, October 27. aged 82. Buster was a popular figure not only to Team Roberts but also throughout many spheres of racing, and all in Proton Team KR express their condolences to the Roberts family.