Banbury's Proton Team KR, the only fully independent team in top-level motorcycle racing, is taking a bold step into the future in 2003, with a head-on challenge to the factories with their new V5 four-stroke MotoGP racer.

Team owner Kenny Roberts has made the commitment, after five years of racing a lightweight alternative two-stroke machine, in a rewarding, but unsuccessful attempt to beat the big manufacturers at their own game.

He said: "We chose a lightweight three-cylinder bike against the four-cylinder factory machines, because we believed that its agility would outweigh any relative lack of ultimate performance.

"Now we are building a full-scale multi-cylinder machine to tackle the new-generation four-strokes directly, because I'm tired of seeing our riders get overtaken on the straights."

He said the new project, combined a spirit of sporting and technical adventure with well-founded and thoroughly developed existing strengths.

He added: "The all-new V5 motorcycle is a truly innovative exercise in prototype engineering, with a clear goal of racing success for the independent team against the might of the major factories."

At the same time, Proton Team KR will be relying on 17 unbroken years of GP racing experience.

The new motor, offering high power from a compact package, breaks new ground in its configuration as well as the scale of its ambition. The running gear, meanwhile, will incorporate hard-won knowledge from three previous generations of KR3 racers, including a wide-line chassis already tested and raced successfully in 2002.

Running a four-stroke racer will be a new experience for Proton Team KR, but they are already highly skilled and familiar with racing in general and the motorcycle GP series in particular.