Blata delays GP debut

The WCM Blata V6 will now make its debut at the Brno GP, rather than at the opening round at Jerez this weekend, with the team running the four cylinder bikes from 2004 until then.

“We now plan for the Blata V6 to make its debut at the Grand priz of the Chech Republic at Brno in August” said Pavel Blata. “This represents a considerable delay from our earlier hopes but we have realised that bowing to the pressure of being at the opening rounds of the season makes no sense in the longer run.”

Despite the delay, Blata have already acheived the task of building a race department from scratch, and an engine dyno and rolling road dyno are now in place, along with specialist rapid prototyping, casting and machining facilities.

“It makes absolute sense,” says WCM’s Peter Clifford. “There is simply no point in forcing the bike onto the track just so we can use it at the start of the season. We are much more interested in the quality of the machine we will be using at the other end of the season”

Riders James Ellison and Franco Battaini will continue to race the 2004 WCM four-cylinder machines. You can post messages of support for James on the MotoGP board by following the Related Topics link, right.