Team Roberts is currently waiting on word on a proposed sponsorship package that will enable it to run a two-rider MotoGP team utilizing Ducati equipment in 2008. “We’re just kind of sitting and waiting, basically,” Chuck Aksland, Team Roberts Team Manager told Roadracingworld.com Thursday. “There’s been a program in the works which has been sort of attached to the Las Vegas sponsorship that was on our bike this year, and it’s quite a big program. We’re not really involved in putting the whole thing together. We’re more or less the MotoGP aspect of it. It involves other motorsports programs. “The people who have been working on it are well into their second year into putting this whole thing together. We were supposed to know a little more around Christmas, mid-December, but some of the parties are back east [United States] and, as you probably know, were affected by the ice storms that happened back there. It kind of got delayed. We’re supposed to know more this month, the middle of this month.” Aksland said Honda denied Team Roberts’ request for enough engines to run a two-rider team last season, leading the team to look for a new engine supplier for 2008. Pending the sponsorship deal, that supplier will be Ducati, and Team Roberts’ 2008 program will likely start on complete leased racebikes before the team looks into creating its own chassis for the Ducati V4, like it did with Honda’s 990cc V5 and 800cc V4 engines. “We haven’t got into any type of negotiation or discussion other than, ‘Would you be interested in this?’ Which they’ve [Ducati] never said no,” said Aksland. “We’ve kept them informed of what we’re doing, and when the time’s right we’ll sit together and knock out what’s in everybody’s best interest. “Once the program’s finalized then we’ll go to them and say, ‘This is what we’ve got. This is how long the program should be running.’ We know they’re interested in it, because we’re quite confident this will be something that will benefit Ducati, as well.” Aksland said he didn’t know if Team Roberts would continue with Michelin, its tire partner over the last two seasons, or switch to Bridgestone, which has been Ducati’s MotoGP tire partner for the last three years. And he didn’t have a short list of possible riders. “The first piece of the puzzle is to get the sponsorship,” Aksland said, “and once you have that finalized and done the rest will fall into place quite quickly.” In the meantime, the Team Roberts shop is staying busy developing swingarm packages and Superbike parts for the new, 2008 Honda CBR1000RR and pursuing the concept of producing its own brand of specialty track day bikes.