Jeremy McWilliams

Jeremy Michael McWilliams (born 4 April 1964 in Glengormley, County Antrim), is a Northern Irish motorcycle road racer. McWilliams became ineligible for mainstream racing after the 2014 season due to his age exceeding the 50-year-old cutoff point, but has continued to ride occasionally in events not controlled by the FIM.

Career

Early career (1993–2001) Between 1993 and 2001, McWilliams rode in the 250cc and 500cc classes. He took two podiums in the 500cc class in 2000, at the Italian GP and the British GP. The following year he won the 250cc race in the Netherlands aboard an Aprilia.

MotoGP and British Superbikes (2002–2007) In 2002 and 2003, McWilliams rode for Kenny Roberts' Team KR in MotoGP aboard the Proton KR bike. In a surprising performance, he took pole position at the 2002 Australian GP, riding a three-cylinder two-stroke bike against the much more competitive four strokes. His best race result over these two years was sixth at the 2003 French GP.

In 2004, he rode the much-maligned Aprilia RS Cube in MotoGP, alongside Shane Byrne. His best finish was 12th place, which he achieved three times, amidst a season where he was frequently hurt due to the vicious nature of the bike. He later claimed to have experienced broken ribs and a dislocated collarbone, amongst other injuries, during that season.

For 2005, McWilliams was contracted to return to the Kenny Roberts KR team, who would be receiving engine support from KTM. However, Dorna stepped in later and revoked the contract on the insistence that Shane Byrne be given the ride. This left the team in a difficult situation, as they were contractually obliged to fill their position on the grid, but had no engines to use. Furthermore, the team's sole rider, Shane Byrne, was technically contracted to KTM and unable to ride any other bike, leaving Byrne unable to compete and Team Roberts with no rider.

With less than 24 hours notice, McWilliams found himself competing at Brno in the Czech Republic, racing on the Team Roberts Proton V5 bike the team used in 2004. The weekend started promisingly, as McWilliams immediately started posting lap times as much as 1.5 seconds quicker than what the bike had posted the previous year. However, McWilliams ended up being forced to retire from the race due to an engine sensor failure, causing the throttle to stick open.

Following the race, McWilliams expressed interest in competing in the rest of the season. Team Roberts subsequently announced that they would not be able to make it to the flyaway races due to their sudden loss of funds from the now terminated KTM deal, but hoped to show at the season-ending race in Valencia with McWilliams. despite a heavy crash in testing in late 2006. He had to miss the first race of the season in Qatar, due to another crash, near the end of the Losail International Circuit. After this round the team suspended its racing operations and did not return.

Later years (2012–present) In 2012, McWilliams participated in the North West 200 races, where he scored a second place in the Super-Twin event. Riding for the KMR Racing Team, McWilliams finished second behind his fellow Irishman, Ryan Farquhar. Aged 62, he won the Supertwin/Sportbike race on a Yamaha at the 2026 event, his fourth victory at the North West 200.

In 2013, McWilliams had a supporting role in the film Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson.

In 2014, McWilliams returned to Grand Prix racing at the age of 50 for a one-off wildcard ride in the Moto2 series at the British Grand Prix held at Silverstone. He finished in 29th place aboard a machine with American origins entered as Brough Superior, using the controlled-standard 600 cc four-cylinder Honda engine.

McWilliams occasionally enters events not controlled by the FIM with their age limit. During the 2022 season, McWilliams was able to take his first win the series during the Daytona 200 weekend. For 2023, McWilliams remains on the Indian factory team alongside O'Hara in both the King of the Bagger and the Super Hooligan class.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season SeasonClassMotorcycleTeam 1993 500cc Yamaha Team Millar 13 0 0 0 0 17 22nd 1994 500cc Yamaha Team Millar 14 0 0 0 0 49 12th 1995 500cc Harris-Yamaha Team Millar 12 0 0 0 0 20 19th 1996 500cc ROC Yamaha QUB Team Optimum 15 0 0 0 0 26 16th 1997 250cc Honda QUB Team Optimum 14 0 0 0 0 73 10th 1998 250cc TSR-Honda QUB Team Optimum 14 0 1 0 0 87 9th 1999 250cc Aprilia QUB Team Optimum 14 0 1 1 0 83 10th 2000 500cc Aprilia Blu Aprilia Team 16 0 2 1 0 76 14th 2001 250cc Aprilia MS Aprilia Racing 16 1 2 0 0 141 6th 2002 MotoGP Proton Proton Team KR 16 0 0 1 0 59 14th 2003 MotoGP Proton Proton Team KR 16 0 0 0 0 27 18th 2004 MotoGP Aprilia MS Aprilia Racing 15 0 0 0 0 26 19th 2005 MotoGP Proton Team Roberts 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2007 MotoGP Ilmor GP Ilmor GP 0 0 0 0 0 0 NC 2014 Moto2 Taylor Made Brough Superior Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Total 177 1 6 3 0 684

By class

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pts 1993 500cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED EUR RSM GBR CZE ITA USA FIM 22nd 17 1994 500cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED ITA FRA GBR CZE USA ARG EUR 12th 49 1995 500cc Harris-Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA GER ITA NED FRA GBR CZE BRA ARG EUR 19th 20 1996 500cc ROC Yamaha MAL INA JPN SPA ITA FRA NED GER GBR AUT CZE IMO CAT BRA AUS 16th 26 1997 250cc Honda MAL JPN SPA ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER BRA GBR CZE CAT INA AUS 10th 73 1998 250cc TSR-Honda JPN MAL SPA ITA FRA MAD NED GBR GER CZE IMO CAT AUS ARG 9th 87 1999 250cc Aprilia MAL JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE IMO VAL AUS RSA BRA ARG 10th 83 2000 500cc Aprilia RSA MAL JPN SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL BRA PAC AUS 14th 76 2001 250cc Aprilia JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL BRA 6th 141 2002 MotoGP Proton KR JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC MAL AUS VAL 14th 59 2003 MotoGP Proton KR JPN RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR BRA PAC MAL AUS VAL 18th 27 2004 MotoGP Aprilia RSA SPA FRA ITA CAT NED BRA GER GBR CZE POR JPN QAT MAL AUS VAL 19th 26 2005 MotoGP Proton KR SPA POR CHN FRA ITA CAT NED USA GBR GER CZE JPN MAL QAT AUS TUR VAL NC 0 2007 MotoGP Ilmor GP QAT SPA TUR CHN FRA ITA CAT GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0 2014 Moto2 Taylor Made QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0

Superbike World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 1993 Ducati IRL IRL GER GER SPA SPA SMR SMR AUT AUT CZE CZE SWE SWE MAL MAL JPN JPN NED NED ITA ITA GBR GBR POR POR 48th 6

AMA Formula Xtreme Championship By year