MotoGP: Kenny Roberts says future could lie in World Superbikes

Kenny Roberts admitted he would seriously consider moving to the World Superbike championship in 2008 if he was forced to quit MotoGP.

Roberts, who has been involved in the MotoGP world championship since he took the series by storm in 1978, is still to finalise his premier class plans for next season.

The triple world champion has been linked with a move to World Superbikes for years, and earlier this season it was confirmed his British-based team had been in preliminary discussions about a deal with MV Agusta.

“We have a factory and we have 30 people. We do some things in World Superbikes already, and if that were my only option I’d have to take it.

“I’d like to have my guys working and keep the business intact. 
I’ll have a business decision to take at the end of the season and see what we do,” said Roberts, who under World Superbike rules would have to lease a complete bike.

At present his MotoGP team, which leases engines from Honda, makes its own chassis, bodywork and exhaust systems.

But Kenny Roberts added: “We have some other options that we are looking at that all hasn’t played out. I’ve not seriously attacked any company on that yet.

“We’d take a step back in terms of building what we do for our MotoGP project and transfer our knowledge that to whatever we could around the rules of World Superbikes.”