WCM innovator opened the door for many Aussies and Kiwis

Bob MacLean, who came to prominence with his WCM Red Bull Yamaha Grand Prix team in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died aged 87.

The American former racer founded World Championship Motorsports in 1991 and it operated until 2005, straddling the two-stroke/four-stroke change in MotoGP.

His founding partner, ex-pat New Zealander Peter Clifford, paid tribute to MacLean, saying “he enabled us to do fantastic things as WCM, becoming the best privateer 500cc team”.

See why McCoy was soon being called the Sultan of Slide!

Those years saw a roll call of rising Australian and New Zealand stars compete against the big-budget factory teams with WCM. Names include Aussies Troy Corser, Garry McCoy, Peter Goddard, Kirk McCarthy and Mark Willis, as well as Kiwis Simon Crafer and Andrew Stroud.

Other prominent riders included Brits Niall Mackenzie and Neil Hodgson.

Behind the scenes were several Kiwi technicians and Australian Mal Pitman.

In the late 1990s, Yamaha offered WCM factory bikes, and with Red Bull sponsorship in 1998 Crafer won the British Grand Prix, the only non-Honda win that season.

Peter Clifford with Mal Pitman

The following season, Frenchman Regis Laconi won the Valencia GP with McCoy third but the team’s biggest year was 2000 when McCoy won three GPs, along the way earning himself the title The Sultan of Slide for his lurid cornering style.

Pitman was Laconi’s crew chief for three years before becoming the team’s technical manager in an association with WCM that lasted six years.

“The key to those successful years was Peter Clifford’s ability to bring Red Bull and Yamaha together,” Pitman told AMCN. “The team moved to Austria, just down the road from Red Bull HQ and the team expanded to include something like 13 different nationalities.”

Harris Performance chassis housed an engine based on Yamaha’s R1 Superbike

WCM struck tough times adapting to the four-stroke MotoGP era. Initially it continued with McCoy and American John Hopkins racing two-stroke Yamahas but the factory pulled its support while Red Bull left to sponsor KTM in the 125cc class.

Undaunted, MacLean and Clifford did a deal with Harris Performance to build a chassis, then developed their own four-stroke engine based on Yamaha’s YZF-R1. The team was renamed Harris WCM.

Sadly, although not competitive, authorities disqualified their machines on technical grounds.

It might have struggled when MotoGP went four-stroke but WCM always looked like a thoroughly professional operation

When they managed to resolve the situation, MacLean and Clifford found themselves way behind in the game. WCM dropped out of MotoGP before the 2006 season.

“Bob built a huge population of friends around the world,” Clifford remembered, “far beyond the riders involved. The team members all looked up to Bob and appreciated his wonderful drive, good humour and unwavering support. He was unique and very special. May he rest in peace.”