Description
Details
Registration No: Un-Registered
Frame No: SA9AA90S92B124054
MOT: None
£35, 000
Rare Foggy Petronas FP1 900cc triple
One of the original 75 UK assembled FP1s
Delivery miles only, supplied with a NOVA number
The World Superbike Championship was introduced in 1998, based on standard 4 stroke road bikes, as a way of encouraging more manufacturers to get involved in racing. The World Championship was dominated at the time with 2 stroke engined bikes that were already beginning to have less relevance to road bike development. It proved to be an immediate success with smaller-scale manufacturers such as Ducati and Bimota taking on the might of the Japanese companies. Initially the rules allowed for engines to be either 750cc four cylinder or 1000cc twin cylinder, with the early championships won by Honda's 750cc RC30, but by the 1990s Ducati began to dominate proceedings with their V-twin models. The 90s proved to be the golden period for the World Superbike (WSB) Championship with its popularity outstripping 500cc Grand Prix, especially in the UK, with Carl Fogarty winning four world championships between 1994 and 1999.
The FP1 was originally developed jointly by Petronas and Sauber Engineering as the Petronas GP1, a 989cc prototype to compete in MotoGP. They then took advantage of a rule, only previously used by Benelli, allowing 900cc triples to compete against the 750cc fours and 1000cc twins in WSB. The engine capacity was reduced to 900cc and Petronas had to commit to producing 150 road legal versions for homologation with the FIM. A new team was set up, with the recently retired Carl Fogarty as its figurehead, to showcase what was possibly going to become a new range of Petronas superbikes built by Modenas in Malaysia. The Foggy Petronas team began developing the race bike in 2002 with a view to it being ready to compete in 2003, but a change to the rules allowing all bikes to be 1000cc left them at an immediate disadvantage and despite some promising results in 2004, the Petronas FP1 project was discontinued in 2006. The first 75 high-spec homologation specials were built in the UK, with the other 75 supposedly being assembled in Malaysia, but there is some dispute about whether they were ever actually made.
This FP1 is one of the original 75 UK bikes that disappeared into storage as soon as they were produced, with very few escaping captivity. Only showing delivery mileage on its speedo, this rare model has spent its entire life in storage or on display. Needing recommissioning before use, it has never been registered but will be supplied with a NOVA number to aid future registration if so desired. Although now over 20 years old, it is still a stunning looking bike with a fantastic specification featuring all the best ancillary components available at the time. A rare opportunity to acquire a fascinating part of World Superbike racing history.
