Overview

World Championship Motorsports or WCM was  formed as a partnership between Bob MacLean and Peter Clifford and has been competing the 500cc World Championship since 1992 when Yamaha made it possible to purchase a V four for the first time.   From the start WCM earned a reputation as the top independent team.

1992: Peter Goddard ROC-Yamaha

Andrew Stroud stood in for the injured Goddard in Hungary and France.

1993: Niall Mackenzie ROC-Yamaha

1994: Niall Mackenzie ROC-Yamaha

1995: Neil Hodgson ROC-Yamaha

1996: James Haydon ROC-Yamaha

Chris Taylor stood in for the injured Haydon in Brazil.

Andrew Stroud stood in for the injured Haydon in Catalunya and Australia.

1997: Kirk McCarthy ROC-Yamaha (up to the Brazilian GP)

In 1997 WCM was invited by Yamaha to field the two factory YZR500 Yamahas made available when the Promoter team pulled out after the second race of the season. From the third round, the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez the team was under the control of WCM.   At the next round at Mugello, Italy we were in the colours of Red Bull and Luca Cadalora celebrated with 2nd.

Kirk McCarthy swapped from the WCM ROC-Yamaha to the Red Bull Yamaha for the British Grand Prix in August following Troy Corser’s earlier departure from the team and McCarthy completed the year with Cadalora. At the end of the season Cadalora was 6th in the overall standings having finished on the rostrum four times and McCarthy was 21st having had too little time to test and adapt to the factory bike.

1998 

The Red Bull Yamaha Team moved into a brand new facility in Strasswalchen, Austria. The facility was built at the instigation of the teams Naming Rights Sponsor, Red Bull, who were demonstrating their long term commitment to the team in constructing this workshop facility.

Red Bull is an Austrian based company and having the race team established on their home ground was an obvious choice.

The popularity of Red Bull was well established in the Austrian and German markets by 1998 and the drink was gaining popularity rapidly in an increasing number of European countries as well as such far flung nations as New Zealand, South Africa and the USA.

The company philosophy is to support endeavors that require extreme mental and physical exertion for the drink’s credo is that "Red Bull vitalizes Body and Mind". Grand Prix racing is obviously an ideal stage on which to demonstrate and promote its qualities.

Yamaha has obviously been involved far longer and been far more successful in Grand Prix racing than either WCM or Red Bull. Yamaha Motor Co. was founded in 1955 and first won the 250 World Championship in 1964 with Phil Read.

In the 500 class Yamaha first won the manufacturers' trophy in 1974 and the following year Giacomo Agostini won their first individual 500 Championship. Kenny Roberts Senior won it for three straight years on Yamahas in 1978, ‘79 and 1980. Eddie Lawson won for Yamaha in 1984, ‘86 and ‘88. Wayne Rainey took three straight years for Yamaha through 1990,’91 and ‘92.

The Red Bull Yamaha team had to demonstrate it’s potential for emulating such impressive achievements in the future with its new riders for 1998, Regis Laconi and Simon Crafar.  With Crafar’s victory in the British Grand Prix the team made it’s first contribution to the Yamaha heritage.

1999

Crafar and Laconi stayed with the team for 1999 but when Crafar had insurmountable problems adapting to the use of Michelin tyres he was replaced by Garry McCoy.  McCoy quickly made use of his first opportunity to ride a factory 500 and his third place in Valencia where Laconi won made it a red-letter day for the whole team.

2000

McCoy and Laconi were the riders for the Red Bull Yamaha team bringing home impressive results for the new millennium. McCoys "speedway" racing style attracted enormous media attention and fans worldwide admired his sideways slides. Garry won 3 GP's in 2000 and achieved 3 Third Place podium finishes finishing 5th overall on the points table and aiding Yamaha to win the Constructors Championship. Laconi finish 12th in the championship of 2000.

2001  

Red Bull Yamaha WCM retained McCoy and introduced Haga, the Superbike Sensation to the 500cc Race Team.  McCoy finished 12th in the battle for the 2001 World Championship with a second in Suzuka, Japan and two 3rd place finishes (Portugal and Malaysia).  Haga finished the season in 14th position.

2002

John Hopkins, the American teenager joins McCoy in the 2002 Red Bull Yamaha Team.  Hopkins comes to the team with an impressive record in US racing, having won the AMA 750  Supersports Series and the Aprilia Challenge Championship.  Both riders will compete on a YZR 500 with McCoy, a winner of 3 GP's and in his third consecutive year with the Red Bull team, spear-heading the attack.

Niall  MacKenzie on the ROC-Yamaha   On the Rostrum at Donington

Neil Hodgson on the WCM 500 Yamaha ahead of Alex Barros, Shinichi Itoh and Mick Doohan.