The Racing Steps Foundation backed motorcycle racing squad has given its all-new Moto3 Hondas a cautious thumbs up after completing a successful shakedown at Jerez this week.
The preliminary two-day test - delayed by the late supply of components - saw the KRP M3-01 bikes fired up for the first time with less than three weeks to go before the start of the inaugural CEV Buckler Moto3 Championship at the end of this month.
The KRP-run team - comprising John McPhee (Oban, Argyll), Fraser Rogers (Chippenham, Wilts) and Wayne Ryan (New Romney, Kent) - completed just short of 2000kms on the KRP-designed and built 250cc four-strokes as they evaluated a series of basic configurations.
The Honda-powered bikes - which feature an innovative chassis drawn up by KRP in collaboration with long-time associate BORA Specialised Fabrications - ran almost faultlessly throughout the test.
All three riders clocked laps close to their 125GP personal best times from last season after blowing away the cobwebs following their three-month long winter lay off.
Further track time to test planned engine developments, ignition systems and suspension set ups and run full race simulations is dependent on delivery of urgently-needed components.
KRP team boss-turned-constructor Mark Keen and RSF motorcycle racing co-ordinator Peter Ball who worked round the clock to get the bikes up and running in time for the test admitted to being cautiously optimistic after the M3-01′s debut.
“It’s looking as if we’re in reasonably good shape albeit we’d be a lot happier if we’d got a lot more kilometres of testing under our belts at this late stage,” said Ball. “The time lag in the supply of vital components has really thrown a spanner in the works as a result of which we won’t be anywhere near as well prepared for the first race as we’d liked to have been.
“The only consolation is that most of the other teams appear to be in a similar position.
Team boss Mark Keen added: “The number of things we should have done by this stage doesn’t bear thinking about so the big unknown for all of us is going to be the race performance of the bikes.
“At present it looks like most teams will be running standard or almost standard engines as a lot of tuning parts are not readily available yet and other kit parts look as if they’ll be beyond the reach of a lot of the teams’ budgets.
“The big hope now is that we can squeeze in a fair bit more testing and get the data we need to make an impact from the off.”
John McPhee, the quickest of the KRP trio, added weight to his team bosses’ assessment. “The switch from the old 125 two-strokes took a bit of getting used to but it’s looking like we’re reasonably competitive as we were running well against the competition throughout the test,” he said.
“So, while we’ve still got a lot of work to do to get the most from the bike, the consensus is we’re starting from a reasonably good place.”
Team-mate Fraser Rogers delivered a similar end-of-test verdict. “Considering the engines were only fired up for the first time a few hours before we hit the track and we had the added complication of running without our preferred ignition unit I think we did OK.
“Obviously the less-than-ideal setup meant the performance was a bit lumpy but we rode round that particular problem to get up to speed with the feel of the new four stroke power pretty quickly.
“So considering the difficulties KRP have had to contend with, I they’ve done did a pretty solid job. The good thing is we got through the test without any major problems and we know there’s a lot more to come from the bike yet.”
British 125GP Championship runner-up Wayne Ryan, who will ride alongside his RSF-backed team-mates in the CEV Buckler Moto3 Championship this year was also cautiously optimistic. “Following the winter break I was a bit apprehensive about getting on a completely new bike but it ran really well and after the two days I felt pretty comfortable with the chassis and engine combination.
“Having said that, once we get the new ECU package and some of the other stuff that’s in the pipeline I’m pretty sure we’ll see a marked improvement in performance.”
The riders’ CEV Buckler Moto3 campaign gets underway with the season opener at Jerez on April 1.
