World Championship Motorsports

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World Championship Motorsports (WCM) was a grand-prix motorcycle racing team formed in 1992 by Bob MacLean and Peter Clifford. The team ran Yamaha motorcycles from 1992 to 2002. They were sponsored by Red Bull for 1997 to 2002 and were called Red Bull Yamaha WCM.

For 2002 when the rules changed to allow 4-stroke engines up to 990cc WCM remained with the old 500cc 2-stroke motorcycle. Garry McCoy and John Hopkins, raced for the team.

For 2003 Chris Burns and David de Gea made up the team's rider line-up. Red Bull left the team to sponsor KTM at the 125cc World Championship. WCM joined forces with Harris Performance Products and was renamed to Harris WCM. Harris WCM built their own 4-stroke MotoGP racer with an engine based on the Yamaha YZF-R1 engine.[1] The FIM however found that the motorcycle was not in conformity with the championship technical regulations and the team was disqualified.[2] The team appealed but the International Disciplinary Court turned the appeal down.[3] The team took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (the final stage in the appeal process) but the court again ruled in FIM's favour.[4][5] Following the courts decision the team entered the British, German and the Czech Republic Grand Prix using 1993 2-stroke 500cc Yamaha motorcycles while they continued to develop the 4-stroke machine.[6] The Harris WCM motorcycle made its debut at the Portuguese Grand Prix.[7]

For 2004 Chris Burns was joined by Michel Fabrizio as the team riders. following an injury mid-season Burns was replaced by James Ellison while Youichi Ui replaced Fabrizio following Fabrizio's one race ride for Aprilia at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Halfway through the 2004 season WCM announced that it joined forces with Blata to run a V6 machine for 2005 .[8] The team was called Blata WCM and James Ellison and Franco Battaini were the team riders. The new motorcycle was not ready at the start of the season and the team continued using their Harris WCM motorcycle. The new V6 motorcycle was due to make its debut at Czech Republic Grand Prix but it was not ready.[9] Blata said that the bike would be completed[10] but the motorcycle never raced.

The provisional entry list for 2006 listed WCM with Bimota engines and Jeremy McWilliams and Jason Perez as riders.[11] but the team was missing from the final entry list as the team dropped out of the championship.[12]

In June 2006, WCM and Winona Racing, announced a strategic partnership to run a 250cc World Championship team in 2007 while WCM also planned a 2007 MotoGP return.[13] Winona WCM, did not race in 2007 after the team's principal sponsor failed to deliver funding in time.[14]

Notable riders include John Hopkins, Noriyuki Haga, Garry McCoy, Neil Hodgson, James Haydon, James Ellison, Alex Hofmann, José Luis Cardoso, Simon Crafar, and Ralf Waldmann.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Red Bull Yamaha reborn as Harris WCM. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  2. ^ Harris WCM disqualified. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  3. ^ WCM appeal verdict announced. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  4. ^ WCM take FIM to Arbitration. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  5. ^ WCM lose arbitration. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  6. ^ WCM to make MotoGP return – on '93 Yamahas!. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  7. ^ WCM embarrass Kawasaki, Proton. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  8. ^ WCM to run Blata V6 in 2005!. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  9. ^ No Blata V6 at Brno. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  10. ^ Blata: The V6 will be completed. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  11. ^ McWilliams, Perez, Bimota on MotoGP entry list. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  12. ^ Final 2006 MotoGP entry list announced - no WCM. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  13. ^ Winona, WCM join forces. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.
  14. ^ 250: Winona WCM postpone comeback. crash.net. Retrieved on 2008-05-16.

[edit] External links

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