Three-time AMA Champion and former MotoGP racer Kurtis Roberts is currently testing a Pirelli-shod Team M4 EMGO Suzuki GSX-R600 at Barber Motorsports Park, in Birmingham, Alabama, and may race with the team in the next two rounds of the AMA Formula Xtreme series, at Barber and California Speedway. “I had been just chilling out,” Roberts told Roadracingworld.com late Monday. “I didn’t like any of the offers proposed to me (for 2006), so I said no. I was going to do some testing and some things, then this came up.” Roberts’ opportunity with Team M4 EMGO Suzuki opened up when the team’s regular rider Michael Barnes crashed and suffered a knee injury during the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. With Barnes’ out of action for upcoming tests and his fitness questionable for the next two rounds of the Formula Xtreme series, Team M4 EMGO Suzuki called Roberts in. “We’re taking it step-by-step,” said Roberts. “I might do Alabama and California Speedway for ‘Barney.’ I might not. We’re going to talk about that on Wednesday and Thursday. As long as I feel we can go good and run up front, then maybe we’ll give it a go. But I don’t like to ride around with no chance to win. I’ve had to do that too much lately.” Asked how things had gone Monday, Roberts said, “It’s going well, so far. It was just my first day on the thing. The fastest FX lap around here is a 1:28.4, and I did a 1:28.9. And I haven’t ridden a road race bike since the Valencia GP last year. But the bike is good to start with, and the tires seem to work pretty good. “I’ve always raced against these guys (Team M4 EMGO Suzuki), and from perspective, they’ve looked good. The bikes are good, and the team has a good structure and work ethic. And I’ve known Keith Perry for a while and always wanted to work with him.”