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The owner of Fabrication Techniques Racing (FTR), Steve Bones, explains how the British campaigners are going with their
Moto2 project, through private development and testing and their current participation in the Spanish national championship
(CEV Buckler).
The company of chassis specialists raced a Moto2 bike at the CEV Catalunya weekend earlier in the
month, using their own prototype design which included Ohlins suspension, Marchesini tyres, Brembo brakes and Dunlop wheels
and plan to further include competition at the two events left in Jerez and Valencia.
CEO Bones gave information
on how the campaging was progressing and the next steps to claim agreements with squads in the new Moto2 World Championship
category for next season.
Firstly can you explain how FTR is approaching Moto2?
“We are purely
constructors, we don’t intend to have any team involvement. We intend to design and build race bikes and offer them
as a constructer would, then the teams would buy them from us and run them as they see fit.”
“We have
been long established in making parts for teams over the years, but never actually in a position where we have put out our
own design to show what we can do ourselves. This is the beauty of Moto2 in my opinion, in that it gives us an opportunity
to show what we are capable of doing in an environment which is not cost prohibitive.”
Who are you
targeting in terms of the types of clients you aim to work with in Moto2?
“The main market place for us is the
World Championship with Moto2, but it is wider than that too. We have built the bike with Grand Prix in mind and we are talking
with four teams with regard to GP. We are also talking to teams in Spain with regards to bikes in the Spanish domestic championship
and with two teams in Germany, but the running of Moto2 bikes in the IDM (German national championship) is still yet to be
confirmed.”
“For GP, we are talking with Team Germany, with Ajo Motorsport, with the sponsors of the
G22 Racing Team and with Stop And Go Racing, so there are a few teams we are in negotiations with at the moment.”
Why was it so important for you to start participating in the Spanish national championship?
“From
a constructors point of view it is essential that you get amongst your competition. When you are testing on your own you don’t
know where you are. You have got to be in there competing so that you know your strengths and weaknesses and the Spanish championship
for us is the only place where we can do that at the moment. Because FTR is a new brand, although we have been involved in
Grand Prix racing for many years, not everyone knows what we have done in the past.”
“As soon as the
bike rolled out at Barcelona though, the attitude towards us switched immediately. People could see the quality of the bike
and the thought and effort that had gone into the machine. We looked at the race weekend as an event to get the bike out,
show people what we had done and show that it is for real and then all of a sudden the doors open and you are in a position
to actually talk about the bike.”
“The bike isn’t up to speed yet, it has had limited testing
time and we are still at the bottom of the development curve, but it is showing all the right signs. I am completely confident
that it is going to be up there with the best of them.”
What was your experience of the Catalunya race
weekend in general?
“The weekend went much better than we anticipated. Diego Lozano is an excellent feedback rider
and he was under instructions not to push the bike too hard and not to crash, because it was the only bike we had.”
“He qualified 23rd and we were so impressed with a bike that had only covered 100m before leaving the pit-box
on Friday morning, so we thought we may as well put the bike in the race. Unfortunately the clutch started slipping on lap
three and the bike retired on lap 13. I think the clutch was damaged on the grid, but it is all part of the learning curve.”
“We are going to put the bike out again at Jerez and Valencia with the Joe Darcey team running it again and
with Graeme Gowland riding it.”
FTR are technical partners to more than 70 racing teams worldwide and count
Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati and Team Roberts amongst their clients past and present.
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