A blast from the past.
Originally developed jointly by Petronas and Sauber Petronas Engineering as the Petronas GP1 989cc prototype to compete in MotoGP, Petronas decided to race the motorcycle in the Superbike World Championship instead. To meet the requirements for the motorcycle's entry into the championship, the engine was reduced to 899.5 cc (54.89 cu in) and Petronas had to produce 150 road version motorcycles for FIM homologation, thus making it the first Malaysian-built Superbike.
The first 75 units of Petronas FP1s were built in the United Kingdom by January 30 2003, passing homologation inspection to enable the bike to contest in 2003. The final 75 units were assembled in Malaysia by the country's motorcycle manufacturer, Modenas by July 2003.
