WCM four-stroke to race

Chris Burns will finally get the chance to race his Harris WCM four-stroke this weekend at Sunday’s GP, in Estoril, Portugal.

The bike was originally due to start racing at the beginning of the season but FIM officials ruled that its crank cases and cylinder heads were too closely related to the Yamaha R1 that provided the inspiration for the design.

Since the decision the team has been busy designing new engines to meet the regulations while riders Chris Burns and David De Gea have had to race on out-dated two-strokes.

The new engines now meet FIM regulations and a test at Brno two weeks ago proved that they are ready to race.

Burns, who is now fully recovered after suffering a broken collarbone at the British GP and who raced in British Superbikes at Cadwell Park, is relieved to finally be on the four-stroke: ” The engine went well at the test but we’re still a long way off, as you would expect. We’ve got another couple of horsepower but everyone else has two or more years of development on us, so it’s going to be tough – but at least it’s a four-stroke. ”

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