Fabrication Techniques Racing (FTR) spent some time explaining how the British Moto2 racing motorcycle constructors are progressing with their 2010 Moto2 project.
Question: Who is FTR?
FTR 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."
Question: Who are your clients?
FTR 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."
Question: Why participate in the Spanish national championship?
FTR Moto2: "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."
Question: How was the Catalunya race weekend?
FTR Moto2: "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."
