After his top rider Wayne Rainey became paralysed from the chest down due to a crash he sustained at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix and Yamaha's rivals Honda and Mick Doohan took multiple titles, Roberts became increasingly unsatisfied with Yamaha's working method in the mid-1990s.

He was constantly unhappy with the progress of their bikes and even complained many times publicly that the factory did not listen to his feedback on how to improve their YZRs.

This was also deemed as an advantage as the racetracks during this time had more corners than long straights for the four-cylinder machines to utilize, some examples being Shah Alam and Donington Park.

To solve this problem, the team focused on improving volumetric efficiency (how much fuel-air mixture the engine could induct).

The engine lacked a balance shaft with a view to improve efficiency and weight, however that feature caused severe vibrations.

The KR team worked with chassis maker Fabrication Techniques, which resulted in an aluminium twin-spar "deltabox" frame that was reportedly smaller and lighter than conventional Japanese designs at the time.

Conventional features were adopted, such Keihin carburetors instead of bespoke units and the radiator placed at the front.

[3] At the debut year, the rider line-up consisted of Kenny Roberts Jr. and Jean-Michel Bayle and team's sponsor was Marlboro.

It was initially thought that the engine's layout gave the engine good self-balancing inertial forces (of the pistons going up and down and the rotating crankshaft), but the bike frequently underperformed and suffered many breakdowns (especially crankshaft spreadings frequently broke down)[5] as well as driver DNFs, - 14 to be exact - achieving a best place finish of eighth, scoring a total of 68 points and ending fifth in the constructor standings.

However, when the situation was reversed, the KR3 riders found themselves blocked by the slower four-cylinder machines and then outgunned at the corner exits.

The lack of experience amongst the riders did not help and the team only scored a total of 17 points - their worst result ever - and only managed a best-place finish of twelfth.

This was the last year for the bike as it was gradually replaced by the newer Proton KR5 motorbike during this season, and would be made obsolete completely from 2004 onwards.