The American MotoGP team, Team Roberts, is considering changing engine suppliers for next season as their current Honda engines have lacked power. Team Roberts manager Chuck Askland said the Honda engines were uncompetitive this season compared to previous years. Team Roberts rider Kurtis Roberts said they lose around 3 seconds per lap due to lower power compared to factory Hondas. As a result, Team Roberts is interested in stronger engines and is looking into Ducati powerplants which have been successful this year.

1. American team may be
looking at other engines
for next season
StrugglingAmericanMotoGPteam,TeamRoberts,
have recently hinted to Malaysians that they will
be interested to look at other engine suppliers to
give them a better edge next season.
The team, who are utilizing Honda engines,
said that the powerplants from the Japanese
have been quite uncompetitive during this
year’s season. This can be reflected in the
performance of Team Roberts this year, despite
being supported by Honda and HRC which also
provide engines to other satellite teams.
“There was no doubt that the Honda engines
were the best engines in the 2006 season, but as
the rules changed to a 800cc format for MotoGP
this year, the Honda engines are a bit low on
power,” said Team Roberts’ manager Chuck
Askland during a interview with the media in
conjunction with the Top 1 Oil tie-up on 18
October in Cyberjaya.
Present during the media conference was
Top 1 Oil International Sales & marketing Vice-
President Frank Ryan, Malaysian distributor Goh
Swee Heng and sole Team Roberts rider Kurtis
Roberts.
Askland said that at the moment, Team
Roberts are interested in having more power in
their engines.“We don’t have a problem with our
Team Roberts built chassis as we believe that it
is among the best in the business. What we are
after is more power to compliment our chassis
set-up,”he said,adding that they may be looking
into Ducati engines as they have been strong
with the new 800cc rules based on Casey Stoner’s
success.
Kurtis Roberts, the 28-year-old son of
motorcycle racing legend King Kenny Roberts,
said that the Honda powerplants are definitely
lacking in power, especially on the straights.“On
average,we lose by about three seconds which is
about 10% down on power based on the factory
Hondas,”he said.
During the MotoGP race at Sepang
International Circuit, Kurtis Roberts finished 20th
due to electronic setting problems.
Text By :Abeshu Photos By :Madkawa,Bart & Abeshu
No More Honda Engines
For Team Roberts?
www.msportbike.com
73Motorsports
Motorsports#03.indd 73 12/14/07 11:15:31 PM

2. Malaysian round hits
record attendance
since hosting the
World Motorcycle
Championships in 1999
Thisyear’sMalaysianMotorcycleGrandPrixevent
at Sepang International Circuit was described as
being uninspiring by many fans due to lack of
participation from sponsors. But, environment
aside, it was considered the largest spectator
turnout in its nine years of hosting the World
Motorcycle Championships.
Despite a slight traffic congestion from
the KLIA toll plaza to the Sepang Circuit on 21
October, this year’s premier motorcycle race
had a record attendance of 44, 807 spectators
for the three days running (19 to 21 October).
The confirmed number on race day (21 October)
stood at 37,435 spectators.
Part of the participation came from
Malaysian,Thai and Singaporean riders who were
part of the annual 3-Nation Charity Ride.This was
in addition to support shown by various local
and foreign motorcycle clubs who held convoys
for the MotoGP event.
Just before noon on race day, many Malaysian
and foreign fans were already at the circuit
dressed in their favourite team colours. Many
made a beeline to the mall area
and the grandstands where
manufacturers and clothing
stalls displayed there
machines and clothes.
The msportbike
magazine’s booth was also
a favourite with the
spectators. Many
paid a visit to
the booth
where the
first and
Record Attendance For MotoGPText By :Abeshu Photos By :the msportbike magazine team (Auds,Ben,Bart,madkawa)
The crowd walking through the msportbike booth
Fans thronged to meet their idols at the autograph
signing session on Saturday
Valentino Rossi,first to
arrive for the autograph
session,pleasing the huge
crowd awaiting
Moment of standstill -
Starting Grid Sepang
MotoGP[ ]
www.msportbike.com
74 Motorsports
Motorsports#03.indd 74 12/14/07 11:16:04 PM

3. BMS welcomes world-
class riders for a meet
the riders session
It was definitely a time off training for three
world motorcycle championship riders when
they visited the Beta Mega Store (BMS) to meet
the fans.
The Taman Mayang BMS centre, operated
by Unipac Ezztools Sdn Bhd,held a Riders Party
in conjunction with the 2007 Malaysian round
of the MotoGP on 17 October. About 150 fans
and guests turned-up at the event.
Shinya Nakano (Team Konica Minolta
Honda Team), Simone Corsi (Aprilia Skilled
Racing Team) and Roberto Locatelli (Aprilia
Metis Gilera), whose respective teams’ are
sponsored by Beta tools, were brought on a
tour of the BMS centre.
The trio spent about an hour at the BMS
where they signed autographs and took
photographs with their fans.
Beta Tools Hosts MotoGP PartyText By :Abeshu Photos By :Bart and Auds
Shinya Nakano
second issue of the magazine were sold at
discounted rates in support of the event.
During the race, many had cheered on their
favourite teams, but the most obvious fans were
the red Ducati fans who held their respective
flags high. As expected, Australia’s Casey Stoner
continued his supremacy for the 2007 season by
scoring his tenth win of the season on race day
in a start-to-finish victory at the Malaysian World
Motorcycle Championship round.
Starting from second on the grid,the already
crowned MotoGP world champion captured
the lead in the first lap and kept his composure
to complete the 21-lap race with a time of
43min and 4.405 sec of the 5.548km Sepang
International Circuit.The 22-year-old champion’s
timing was about two seconds ahead of Marco
Melandri and Dani Pedrosa.
Pedrosa who was pole sitter lost to second
spot to Melandri on the tenth lap. Malaysian
favourite and Italian ace Valentino Rossi finished
a disappointing fifth place ahead of the final race
of the season in Valencia,Spain.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo captured
the 250cc world title when he came third on race
day. Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan, who started on
pole,won the race ahead of second place Hector
Barbera of Spain, with Lorenzo in third. Lorenzo
celebrated the result by wearing a boxer’s robe
and gloves with a world championship belt.
In the 125cc class, Hungary’s Gabor Talmacsi
took a ten-point lead in the 125cc championship
by winning ahead of KTM’s Tomoyoshi Koyama
of Japan and Hector Faubel of Spain.
With the win, Talmacsi leads in the 125cc
overall results with a total of 262 points against
Faubel’s 252 points and Koyama’s 186 points.
Nothing pleases the fans more than to meet their idols in
person,depite the heat and humidity
The Aprilia Junior GP Racing Dream entourage enjoying a
day out led by ShahrulYuzy,their coach
Deputy Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Zahid Hamid
escorted by msportbike magazine’s Managing Director
Razlan Razali to the MSS paddock,mingling with most
participants.
www.msportbike.com
75Motorsports
Motorsports#03.indd 75 12/14/07 11:17:07 PM

4. Raceline located at Old
Klang Road is not your
average motosikal shop.
A few years back it was
home base to a then-
aspiring young racer.
Today,Chris Vermuelen
is ranked 6th
top rider in
the world and he never
fail to return.
“Obviously I got a great relationship
with Malaysia I guess you can say
– my first country in my race career
with Raceline (with Barry), was great
back then. Every time I come to
Malaysia we do a lot of testing here,
and the races every year, I would
catch up with Barry (Leong), I come
and see him, really enjoy it. I’ve
known these guys since and they
are friends with the team and when
we race here we come back and see
each other all the time.”
A very relaxed and casually dressed
Chris looking energetic, full of wit and eager
to answer questions thrown at him ….not
without chomping that piece of roti canai
down first. Read on….
msportbike : Chris, Suzuki fans have been
talking about the new “retro” colours on your
bike. We understand that it’s a tribute to Barry
Sheene. Care to elaborate on the relationship
with the late Barry Sheene?
CV : I got to know him when he was doing a
TV commentary for the Australian Superbike
Championship. A year after I did this in 1999 by
then in 2000 Barry took me to me over to the
British Championship which got me very much
setup in my world championship career. It was a
big shame to see him go with cancer.
But y’know he had a very good relationship
with Suzuki, which he rode many years, and the
colour scheme we used on the bike was Suzuki’s
original colours from 1975 and its exactly the
same as the bike Barry rode, big yellow circles.
Unfortunately I just have the number 71,not just
a 7,but it looked pretty good.And I also changed
the leather suit to the same as his, and a helmet
that was quite similar. I wasn’t allowed to do
exactly the same but it looked good the retro
colours and I wanted to use it more often, but
Suzuki said that we have to stay with Rizla for the
rest of the year anyways.
msportbike : Tell us more about your off-season
hobbies? Do you go off-road riding often?
CV : Yeah-yeah, I got quite a few dirt bikes, all
Suzuki of course….and I got trial bikes.They give
it to me now,so its good.*burst out laughing* I do
quite a lot of off-road riding during the season
at home as well for training and for enjoyment. I
do a lot of physical training,a lot of running,a lot
of mountain biking,not so much of gym because
we like to stay quite small,quite light for the bike.
And when I’m not racing I like to spend time in
the water, so I’ve some boats, jet skis y’know,
we’ve got a lot of fun,so its good.
msportbike : You are a big fan of American Hot
Rod cars.What’s with the fascination?
CV : I don’t know, I just like all sorts of cars. I’m a
petrol head. I’ve got lotsa motorbikes and cars
at home my dad and myself play with. Like I said
the dirt bikes – its an interest we both have and
we’ve got a lot of cars starting from 1928. Its the
oldest one,it’s a Ford,1929 hub mobil,1933 Ford,
1954 Ford F100 and a 1957 Buick – so we’ve got
quite a few cars,so its good.
(Barry Leong : You own a museum at home?)
CV : It’s a big shed anyways!
Words by :Auds Pics by :Auds & madkawa
Homecoming Hero
www.msportbike.com
76 Motorsports
Motorsports#03.indd 76 12/14/07 11:17:21 PM

5. msportbike : To race in MotoGP has been your
lifelong dream, was it everything you thought
it would be?
CV : Erm, well first of all my dream (and) my goal
is to beWorld Champion in MotoGP. And the way
I see it now we are getting closer but we’re not
there yet, we have a long way to go, there’s a lot
to learn, but I’m really enjoying what I’m doing.
I love it. I will not be doing anything else. I get
paid to ride the best motorbikes in the world, so
it can’t be that bad. Wasn’t everything I thought
it would be is, it’s a lot of work sometimes, it’s a
lot of traveling, a lot of events that are held, but
when I get on the bike, its the fun bit, and that’s
what I love about it.
msportbike : Any plans for next year? Would
you still be with Suzuki?
CV:Yep,I’vejustrecentlysignedanothercontract
with Suzuki for another 2 years. So I’ve agreed to
stay. That’s good, I was happy with that. I had
an option to move to Yamaha, to be team mates
with Valentino Rossi and I didn’t think that the
best move in my career and I had another option
to move to team Kawasaki but the Suzuki team
guaranteed me we’re heading in the right way
and assigned me two years.
msportbike : For 2007, did you achieve what
you wanted?
CV : Erm the goal is every time I get on the bike is
to win the race, to be the quickest or to improve
and we make big steps this year, we won 1 race,
we’ve been on the podium 4 times, so I’ve set a
lot of records for Suzuki but the thing with me
and my job and I think all the riders are the same,
if we or I win a race, I didn’t win by the seconds,
I should’ve been first, so I should be pushing
myself further so I’m happy with what we’ve
achieved this year but I want to achieve more in
the last two races. That made sense? Heh heh!
Question from the floor : You ride on the road
do you?
CV : No I don’t. I just don’t enjoy it. I enjoy riding
bikes flat out, and the road’s not the place. I’ve
got dirt bikes, and when I ride them its full gas
and at the back yard, and on the road bike its
on track, the roads’ just not the place. In a closed
environment.
Question from the floor : If you’re not riding on
the road,what got you into riding bikes?
CV : I don’t know how it started, but for me it
was just riding bikes and enjoying it. My first real
bike was a trial bike. I used to go trial riding with
my dad nearly every weekend, I was at school,
just enjoying it, having fun. I was racing BMX
at that time just for fun in the local area. Put
them both together, and I wanted to have a go
at motorcross and I started motorcrossing I got
more into dirt track. I really enjoyed that and in
Australia you can’t road race till you’re 16. So
when I was 16 I started road racing. That’s when
I met Barry (Leong),and it went all downhill from
there…..*crowd burst out laughing, claps and
went ballistic*
Answers to a question on his strategy when
racing :
CV : Its always different. Every situation is
different, every rider, every race weekend.
Depends on the circuit, on your testing that
you’ve done, how well your tyres are gonna
last of course. But most of the time in MotoGP
its pretty much as fast as you can go or race, for
me. There may be a few laps when we say we
roll off the pace and that’s rolling off two or three
tenth of a second a lap. But its not like rolling off
a second a lap or two.
Yeah, Most of the time its going as hard as
you can, cause it’s the first part of the race there
a lot of time to be made, cause if you’re slow in
the beginning you go to the back, so hard to
come through. But if you can do the pace in the
beginning the other people have to catch you
that’s the way I play it.
For our riding style, its all about being
smooth. If you’re aggresive,once the wheel slides
on either wheel,its gonna hit the ground quickly.
If you’re smooth and you can feel the edge of the
grip a lot. You know where the edge is, will be a
lot easy, you know what I mean….braking is all
about applying the brakes smooth, getting the
weight to the wheel and then you can swing it
as hard as you want. Same with excelerating you
can open the throttle,you feel the grip,once you
get the bike up a bit, you can almost get on, you
can get on pretty hard so it’s just about feeling
everything, through your head and your feet as
such, and just being smooth with it. Dirt bikes
really helps I think for riding in the rain. Same
kind of thing,you’re having control.
msportbike : Do you think of World
Championships, can you make big steps next
year?
CV : I hope yeah. But its difficult you know. Our
plan is to move forward next year and to fight for
the title. I want to be winning races every week.
We’ll be on the podium every week, and that’s
the goal.
www.msportbike.com
77Motorsports
Motorsports#03.indd 77 12/14/07 11:17:45 PM