Proton Team KR announces new V5
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Another V5 makes the GP cut
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Proton's World Moto GP assault will step up a gear in 2003
with the announcement that Proton Team KR will use a new V5
four-stroke engine to power it MotoGP bike.
The announcement follows recent success for the team's current
three cylinder 500cc GP bike with Englishman Jeremy McWilliams
taking provisional pole at the German GP in late July with
both he and Nobu Aoki scoring top ten finishes in the race.
The new Proton will not be the first grand prix racer to
adopt the V5 engine configuration in MotoGP, but team founder
Kenny Roberts is quick to point out that the team's latest
project is not a copy of the this year's all conquering V5
Honda.
"We looked at the regulations, considered the possibilities
and we decided that five cylinders is the best option,"
said Kenny Roberts.
"Four- and five-cylinder engines have the same minimum
weight limit of 145kg so given that, why would you want to
build a four?" said Roberts. Yamaha and Suzuki may have
something to say about that last comment, though...
"Once that decision had been made, the engine architecture
was just obvious," he added.
Roberts a three-times World 500cc Champion has spearheaded
the ambitious Malaysian motorcycle project for the past six
years with Proton coming on board over the last three seasons
to provide technology and a "hothouse" for company
engineers and designers.
The new four-stroke Proton KR uses a vee configuration with
three cylinders forward, two behind.
However there are significant differences from its Japanese
rivals in basic architecture, with the Proton engine adopting
a narrower vee angle for better performance and space efficiency.
"The Proton will feature a 60-degree vee compared with
a 75.5 degree unit used on the Honda MotoGP bike," said
Roberts.
"We settled on 60 degrees after computer simulations
and testing by our Proton engineers, which led us to believe
that it makes a better envelope," he added. Roberts is
also considering a career as a postman...
"I think five cylinders is the obvious configuration
for the MotoGP category, just like the V10 powerplant became
the engine to use in F1," said Roberts.
"In F1 racing they all use V10 engines, but nobody accuses
them of copying each other, it is simple the best package
size in the formula and I am sure the same thing will happen
in MotoGP with V5 engines," continued Roberts.
Proton has played a key role in the design and development
of the engine with the company using the knowledge gained
to help improve the development time and performance of future
road car powerplants.
According to Proton Cars Australia general manager, John
Startari, the move to a V5 four-stroke project has enormous
relevance for future proton products and engine technology
development. "The new V5 engine is major opportunity
for proton to develop industry leading powerplant technology
for future vehicles and the company is very much attacking
it with this in mind," said Mr Startari.
"With the product catalogue Proton will be rolling out
over the next five years, the relevance of the KR V5 is brought
into much sharper focus," he added.
Proton engineers are seconded to the Proton Team KR operation
where they receive invaluable experience in rapid problem
solving and fast tracking development time.
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