Copyright 2002, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.
By Glenn LeSanto
At a little after 1:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon in a restaurant just behind London Bridge station the newest team in the World Superbike paddock was unleashed.
To the strains of ‘One Vision’ by Queen the spotlights dimmed and amidst the strobelights the world was given its first view of the Foggy PETRONAS Racing FP1.
The curtain rose to reveal Carl Fogarty standing arms outstretched in front of a stunning ice sculpture of the FP1, flanked by Troy Corser and James Haydon astride their actual race machines.
The bike looks sensational with a distinctively raked back black screen and waspish rear section with the triple exhaust exiting centrally under the seat. If it performs as well as it looks the team is definitely onto a winner. The turquoise and black color scheme with a red seat hump means that the bike will stand out on the track as well as the paddock.
Mr. Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Azizan Zainul Abidin, the chairman of PETRONAS, took to the stage and formally launched the team and announced that PETRONAS had signed an agreement to sponsor the squad for five years. Carl Fogarty took the microphone and exclaimed how proud he was of the whole team and of the herculean effort they had all put in. He said that even up to this morning there were detractors in the press saying that the launch wouldn’t happen and the team would not meet any of the deadlines it had set. Obviously the detractors were wrong and with some testing scheduled for later this month the team says it will definitely be competing at Laguna Seca in July.
“I was walking around this morning with my race face on,” said Fogarty. “I don’t think I’ve been this nervous for a very long time. I can’t impress enough how proud I am of the whole team. The amount of work they have put in to meet the deadline has been amazing. They have been working weekends and bank holidays to ensure that we had everything ready.
“I want to say that we are going to go straight out and win, but that’s not going to happen. This year is a development year for us. We need to finish races and fine tune the bike. Next year I expect us to be right up in the points and hopefully winning races and after that the world championship.
“We’ve got two of the best riders around to ride the bike. Troy was World Champion in ’96 and was my teammate in ’99 and James is probably one of the hottest talents around at the moment.”
The FP1 was originally developed as a 998cc Triple for entry into the MotoGP series by PETRONAS and Sauber. However in late 2001 PETRONAS decided that they would contest the World Superbike series instead in conjunction with Team Foggy Racing Ltd, thereafter know as Foggy PETRONAS Racing. This change meant that a number of major changes had to be made to the machine for it to be eligible to race in 2002.
The first and most important was the reverse Inline Triple engine had to be reduced to 900cc to comply with the technical specifications for Triples in the Superbike class. This was then mated with a chassis that was designed and built in record time by the team. A state-of-the-art exhaust system was developed which features a unique three-into-one-into-two-into-three arrangement which allows the engine to make power at lower revs.
Some of the other technical changes made include:
– Changing the bore and stroke to increase drivability at the torque curve
– Increasing the size of the gears to improve life
– A redesign of the cylinder head and crankcases
– A vertical split in the headstock of the air intake
– A change of injector bodies and increase in powertrain weight to improve drivability
– An improved lubrication circuit
All of these adaptations have been made in an unprecedented short timeframe.
Haydon and Corser only saw the completed machine in its final livery this morning and both of them were delighted with the finished product.
“To see it like this, I just can’t wait to ride it. It has been an absolute nightmare watching the guys racing this year and not being able to be out there, but now we can look forward to the rest of the year,” said Haydon.
Although he broke his shoulder about five weeks ago in a go-cart accident he doesn’t feel that his injury will prevent him testing and racing the bike. “I’ve just got to be careful and make sure that the bone has healed, but I should have just enough time.”
Corser had spent about four hours this morning just sitting on his bike and he really didn’t want to get off it, but we managed to pry him away for a few words.
“Since I’ve got here I just don’t want to get off it. Everything feels right, the handlebars are in the right position and the footpegs are good. I’m looking forward to hearing the engine and seeing how it goes. All the reports are good about how the engine has run on the dyno. There haven’t been any major problems, we’ve had a few small problems but considering that they have built the engine from scratch, not bad.
“This year we probably won’t be chasing results it will be more about the set-up and development of the bike to get ready for next year. It’s not going to be easy to beat anyone out there but I feel confident that we have got the package and we’ll see how it goes.
“PETRONAS have given us a five year investment and by the end of that we want to be World Champions. I obviously hope it won’t take that long. My aim is that in 2003/2004 we will be there challenging for a race win every weekend and then the championship will come after that.”
Asked about the rule changes for next year that will allow 1000cc four-cylinder machines into the series, Troy had this to say. “I think it is a good thing, it will make the competition closer and hopefully it will bring back some of the other manufacturers.”
