After months of frustration the British-based WCM team will at last make their 2003
MotoGP debut at
Donington Park on Sunday.
The team will use two-stroke 500cc four-cylinder Yamahas after having their original four-stroke machines ruled out for technical infringements by the FIM, the sport's governing body.
The bikes will be ridden by Brit Chris Burns (pictured) and Spaniard David de Gea - and one of the machines has a very special
Donington pedigree: It's the bike that Scotsman Niall MacKenzie raced to third place in the 1993 British Grand Prix, which is the only time a British rider has finished on the 500cc podium at a
Donington British GP.
"It's not ideal but at least we are getting on track after so much hard work by the team," said Burns. "They have completely rebuilt the bikes and we will be testing at Rockingham tomorrow (Tuesday) before going to Donington. The last time I rode a two-stroke was a 125cc machine and I've never ridden a 500cc four-cylinder two-stroke but at least I've got a day at Rockingham to sort it out.
"Both Niall MacKenzie and Rob McElnea have told me they are a bit of a handful and so we will see. The bikes will obviously not be competitive with the four-strokes but I'm racing at a circuit I know and so I hope we can qualify," he added, before revealing that the two-strokes may only appear for two races:
"We plan to race them at
Donington and two weeks later in Germany but after that we hope to have our own four-strokes," said Burns