Foggy Petronas Bikes To Go Under The Hammer
Rennie Scaysbrook | December 11, 2018
Foggy Petronas Bikes To Go Under The Hammer—Remember the Foggy Petronas FP1 WorldSBK racer? This was a motorcycle mired in controversy and one that carried the hopes of Malaysian superbike production on its shoulders.
Foggy Petronas Bikes To Go Under The Hammer
A project funded by Malaysian oil giant Petronas, developed by the Sauber Formula One team and headed by former WorldSBK Champion Carl Fogarty, the FP1 was ridden by the likes of Troy Corser, Steve Martin, Garry McCoy, Chris Walker, James Haydon, and the late Craig Jones, but it never achieved the kind of results its riders (and budget) were capable of.
The team was withdrawn from competition in 2006, but there was still the issue of what happened to the production bikes.
In all, 150 FP1 streetbikes, with a 900cc inline three-cylinder motor developed by Swiss company Suter, were made to get the machine homologated for WorldSBK competition, 75 in the UK and 75 in Malaysia. Sixty of these UK bikes were found in a warehouse in Essex, UK in 2010. Those bikes were never shipped to the bosses in Malaysia, as it turns out, and the proceeding years saw a number of court cases between Petronas and their Malaysian partner, Momoto, who renamed the machine the Motomoto MM1.
The case went on for so long the UK bikes were seemingly forgotten about and have ended up in the custody of British sportscar and sportbike brokers and restorers Lanzante Motorsports. They have all been restored to original specification, however, the company has been coy as to just how they came into the custody of these machines, and it will be interesting to see if Petronas and or Momoto come out to claim ownership. Expect more drama as this story plays out when the auction date is released.
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Even the talent of Troy Corser couldn’t get the Foggy Petronas FP1 to the front of the WorldSBK field.
