Team Roberts

[alesi95]

How long can Team Roberts and Proton go on failing like this? Is Kenny Snr's heart still in it? I don't think his heart has really been in it since Rainey's accident and do you think he'll ever swallow his pride and become a satelliet team for Yamaha or Honda?

[BootsOntheSide]

The MotoGP era doesn't seem to be ideal for independant teams, and we should give both Proton KR and Harris WCM credit for giving it a good fight. The bikes they're using seem inherently off-the-pace, and neither team has ideal riders for moving forward. I agree that they could consider getting a Honda deal, as that makes for a genuine championship challenge, and Yamaha should be on the up. It's definately an option, but it'd put a lot of good people out of work.

[f1manoz]

It's a shame that the idea has never worked, but IMO it's time for KR to finally admit defeat and find another bike to use. The current bike is going nowhere, not particularly fast and the two riders are just struggling against the odds for no reason whatsoever.

Harris WCM are apparently going to develop their own engine for use next year. I'd like to know how on earth they are ever going to afford it considering they are on a shoestring at the moment.

[BootsOntheSide]

I think the WCM engine is being developed externally, in the Czech Republic of all places, so it may not be that much more expensive for them, but that's another story.

[Jukebox]

Didn't proton just bought 50% share of MV Augusta that owns Cagiva and Husquarna that makes em the majority shareholder and owner of the company?

Makes me wanna drool watching Will Smith in i robot riding the MV Augusta F4

[gomick]

i thought ducati (castliogni brothers - long time since i thought of those boys) owned cagiva....

imagine if cagiva had a moto gp bike - that would be awesome

[Jukebox]

15-07-2004: Proton to inject RM330m into Italy's Agusta

Proton Holdings Bhd is taking a controlling stake in Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta Group, which will see it injecting 70 million euros (RM330 million) into the company.

Agusta announced on its website on July 7 that Proton and the former's owner and founder Claudio Castiglioni signed an investment agreement that would see Proton taking a controlling stake in MV Augusta.

"The agreement confirms the binding offer approved by Proton's board of directors on May 25, in which Proton will submit a capital increase of 70 million euros in MV Agusta leading to a restructuring of the credits and the exit in bonis of the group from the procedure of controlled administration," it said.

MV Agusta said the new partnership would develop the presence and increase the value of motorcycle brands Cagiva, Husqvarna and MV Agusta in the international markets.

On May 25, Proton announced to Bursa Malaysia that its directors had authorised it to make an offer to acquire a controlling stake in MV Agusta.

Proton had then said it would make a binding offer to subscribe for new shares of MV Agusta.


Thursday July 15, 11:47 AM

Malaysia's Proton expects to complete acquisition of Italy's Augusta in Q4
KUALA LUMPUR (AFX-ASIA) - Proton Holdings Bhd said it expects to complete the acquisition of a controlling stake in Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Augusta SpA in the final quarter of this year, after it meets certain specified conditions.
The national car maker said this in a statement to the stock exchange after a local daily reported that Proton will inject 70 mln eur to take control of Augusta (Xetra: 508860.DE - news) .
The newspaper reported that under the terms of the agreement signed with MV Augusta owner and founder Claudio Castiglioni, the Italian company will undergo a debt restructuring and ultimately be taken out of 'controlled administration', or a court-supervised re-organization procedure, imposed on it since November 2002.
Proton said the conditions include securing approval from MV Augusta's creditors as the company has been subject to 'controlled administration', revocation by the Court of Varese of the 'controlled administration', as well as other applicable regulatory approvals.
No further details were provided in the statement.
(1 usd = 3.80 rgt)
afxklumpur@afxasia.com

[alesi95]

There is also the BMW Roberts rumour.

[chunder]

I think you might also find that Roberts has had close talks with KTM about using their still born V4 GP engine. The motor is ready and is already pumping 220bhp, mpore than the V5 Roberts engine has managed since it was designed