Jeremy, who took his grand prix victory in the 250cc class at Assen in 2001, will return to the Dutch track to make his KTM-Akrapovic Team debut on August 23.

Jeremy, who is riding for the Superbike Academy team, opted for slicks on a rapidly-drying track in the first race. Sebastian Diss, on the factory ZX-6R took the holeshot but couldn't break the tow and, as is typical at such high speed circuits, slipstreaming saw the pack catch him again.

There followed a classic battle with the six leading riders changing positions and drifting three abreast into the fifth gear right hander. Jeremy and championship leader Sascha Hommel finally made a break in the last three laps and gapped Diss and the Yamahas of Christian Kellner and Pascal Eckhardt.

Race two saw another great battle between the leading riders with Pascal Eckhardt taking the win from Sascha Hommel. Jeremy was fourth in a photo-finish between third and fifth place, only 0.8 seconds covering the top five riders over the line!

Jeremy's young team mate Joshua Elliott had a rough weekend after falling heavily at high speed in free practice. Elliott was stiff from the fall but qualified well in 20th. His race pace again proved to be sensational - making up seven places in the first two laps and hopes were high he might add to his double podium from the Nurburgring.

Unfortunately the Gods were not smiling on Elliott this weekend and a small mistake in the complex saw the young Irishman hit the bales hard enough to warrant a night's observation in the Salzburg clinic.

Thankfully he is sore but uninjured and still holds a fantastic 10th place in his rookie year and is looking forward to the next round at the fast and flowing Schleizer Dreieck, Germany's oldest race track.

"It was nice to back at the front and it looks like we could be up there for the rest of the season thanks to the new engine. We're still slightly down on power against the factory teams but the next tracks will suit the Honda. I'm just sorry that Josh took a tumble and wasn't able to join me on the podium. Next time though," said Jeremy.

The ex-Aprila works rider had to have his ankle plated after being taken out at the Lausitzring a little over six weeks ago where he was taken out by a fallen rider.

Racedays team boss Gerry Bryce said: "Jeremy will be hoping to join 15- year-old protege Josh on the podium. Josh finished second and third at the last round, with an improved electronics package courtesy of Direct CCTV the team are hoping one of their riders will be on the top step at this Honda friendly circuit."

Elliott, who is part of the Jeremy McWilliams Academy, beat a whole host of big names in the class as he finished second in the first race and narrowly missed repeating the feat as he was just beaten to second by factory Kawasaki rider Sebastian Diss.

"Josh has made remarkable progress from our first tests together in February, we are so pleased for him and it was obvious he was a very special talent from early on," said a delighted Jeremy.

"He rode the circuit for the first on Friday and was immediately happy with the changes we had made from the start of the season. The bike is working well, AB tuning have to be commended for their efforts.

"It was a dream meeting when our sponsors Direct CCTV came along to show their support. Josh has given our team plenty to cheer about in Nurburgring and we are very much looking forward to racing on a track he knows, Sachsenring."

Team boss Gerry Bryce added: "The combination of new K-Tech forks and Dunlop tyres seems to suit Josh. He's ridden very well this weekend and his progress is amazing.

"To be mixing with riders such as Christian Kellner and Diss at this stage of his career really is something special. Our main sponsor Chris Percy from Direct CCTV was with us this weekend and it couldn't really have been better for us. We're looking forward to hopefully going one better at the Sachsenring in three weeks' time."

Elliott, who is just 14 years old, is being mentored by Jeremy before he takes to the European stage in the German IDM Supersport Championship.

"I've spent a valuable couple of days working with Josh on a variety of suspension setups and track craft. He has made significant progress - beyond any of our expectations. I'm very impressed," said the Irishman.

The Racedays team are encouraged by Elliott's progress and at a recent session at Valencia, he was able to record a time in the superpole session only 0.10 seconds behind 2007 IDM German Supersport champion Sebastian Diss, who was riding a factory-supported 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Elliott was the third fastest 600 rider, just behind Jeremy and Diss. There were only nine quicker times, these being set by WSB, STK 1000 and IDM Superbike racers. More importantly for the team; in a 16 lap race simulation Josh maintained a consistently fast pace whilst conserving his tyres for a final push at the end of the session.

It has been over a month since Ilmor GP Team Principal Mario Illien announced the temporary suspension of the team’s race programme and now it’s time for an update…

Today at the Ilmor Engineering factory in Northampton Illien and Managing Director Steve Miller announced that the Ilmor GP race team will be slimmed down to a ‘skeleton’ crew focusing on the continued development of the engine – as a consequence many of the original Ilmor GP team personnel will be released from their contracts from the end of May 2007 onwards and will be free to pursue other opportunities.

Speaking about the announcement Illien said: “Whilst our commitment to finding a title sponsor and suitable Ilmor GP partners to make racing a viable financial option continues in full force, it is senseless to employ an entire race team when our track activity has ceased albeit on a temporary basis.

“I know that it’s hard for people to understand why we have stopped racing and some people have been quick to judge our withdrawal from the MotoGP World Championship but I remain upbeat and I still strongly believe that we will find a financial partner for the team. In the mean time we have to restructure and put in place a smaller team dedicated to engine development.”

“I attended the Dorna sponsorship workshop in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago and it is clear that further work needs to be done to make the sport more appealing to commercial partners” Illien added. “Key people outside of the sport don’t really understand what MotoGP is and the fantastic opportunity it represents by association. I also think that people perhaps underestimated the impact that the decline in tobacco sponsorship would have on the sport. Added to this potential corporate sponsors are much more environmentally aware these days – I’m a strong believer that environmental issues and professional motorsport shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. There are plenty of opportunities to be explored on this front.”

Whilst both Ilmor GP riders Jeremy McWilliams and Andrew Pitt remain under contract Illien has been happy to loan Pitt to World Superbike team Hannspree Ten Kate Honda for the race in Valencia whilst Frenchman Sebastien Charpentier recovered from his fractured coccyx and again this weekend in Assen as the team run a third bike at their home race.

Commenting on the riders Illien said: “I’m pleased that Andrew performed so well in Valencia for Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, he demonstrates the flair and ability that we still believe he has. Both Andrew and Jeremy have done a fantastic job for Ilmor GP under difficult circumstances and I want to thank them for their on-going patience and understanding. If all goes to plan and we manage to secure the funding to get back out for the remainer of the 2007 season then of course I would love to have both riders back on board.”

Ilmor GP Team Principal Mario Illien today announced that the team will not be attending the second round of the MotoGP World Championship next week in Jerez. The teams’ race attendance has been suspended for the immediate future however engine development will continue and Illien expects for the team to return to the MotoGP racing scene as soon as key financial partners have been secured.

At this early stage in the project, racing and developing the engine and chassis has proved extremely costly for Ilmor’s owners. Since the team launched last year in Estoril at the penultimate round of the MotoGP Championship good progress has been made but further development is needed to become fully competitive on track.

Commenting on the announcement Ilmor GP Team Principal and Part Owner of Ilmor Engineering Mario Illien said: “We discussed the situation in great detail internally and obviously it was an extremely difficult decision for us to make. However once we went through all the options, we decided that the best course of action for the sake of the project as a whole would be to put the racing side of things on hold and continue developing.

“I would like to thank Dorna, IRTA, FIM and our technical partners and suppliers for their on-going support and patience during this time. My heart is still very much in the team - we have had fantastic support from the public and the media with some great coverage worldwide. I would also like to say how enormously proud I am of what we managed to achieve in a short space of time - we have a good group of people who have worked incredibly hard over the past few months. Both riders, Jeremy McWilliams and Andrew Pitt have given their best during a difficult development time - I couldn’t have asked for more than that.

“We have important meetings and discussions over the next few weeks which will help us to establish the future of the project and team - I am determined to explore all opportunities available to us and I’m hopeful that there will be a positive outcome.”

Ilmor boss Mario Illien said they had opted to suspend racing activity but would continue to seek a backer.

McWilliams returned to the GP circuit this year but did not compete in the opening race in Qatar after being hurt in a crash during final qualifying.

At 42 he was the oldest participant in the MotoGP series.

McWilliams had been riding alongside Australian Andrew Pitt for Ilmor.

"I am numb at the moment. It seems they are ceasing their racing activities because of lack of budget," said McWilliams.

"Everyone knows Ilmor were looking for a big sponsor. We have not had as much time on the race track as we needed for all that to fall into place.

"But there are always other opportunities around the corner and I will not let this deter me.

"I will be back on a bike somewhere in the near future, you can be sure of that.

"But I would like to work with the Ilmor team and help them develop their project with the V4 engine."

Losail International Circuit 10.03.07: Following his crash yesterday at the end of the hour long qualifying session, Ilmor GP rider Jeremy McWilliams was left unable to participate in the first race of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship today in Qatar. During his fall from the bike the Northern Irishman knocked his previously fractured left femur and irritated the muscle around the healing bone causing an extremely painful haematoma in his thigh.

His injury prevented him from taking part in the warm-up session this morning and then subsequently the race - McWilliams attended the medical centre first thing this morning where he received pain relief treatment and was strongly advised against him competing. After deciding to sit-out the warm up session in favour of resting his leg further in the hope that he could later make it out on to the grid, McWilliams was in so much pain that he was forced to withdraw from the race.

McWilliams Australian team mate Andrew Pitt didn’t fare much better either. Pitt had a disappointing race and had to stop before the end due to an as yet unidentified issue. The team are now analysing the data accumulated from the warm up session and the race to try and figure out what went wrong.

Pitt resumes testing duties tomorrow as the team stay a further day in Qatar - McWilliams understandably will not take part instead focusing on getting himself race fit in time for the second leg of the championship in Jerez, Spain in two weeks.

Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider (Not Classified): I’m really disappointed with today. We did so well on Thursday, things were looking good but yesterday and today left a lot to be desired. I had a bad start and I was having problems with corner entry which really slowed me down - I decided that my best plan of action was to just maintain a steady speed and finish the race however the bike had other ideas. I know that the team are working hard to solve the problems that we’ve experienced in the past few days - the test tomorrow will definitely help.”

Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider (Not Starting): “I am totally gutted that I couldn’t race today. We made great progress on the bike at the test in Jerez and here on Thursday then we were cruelly dealt a blow yesterday - we definitely didn’t need that. I’ve been sat watching the race today and looking at our lap times from the past few days and we would have had a good chance of scoring points today - that’s very frustrating for me. The decision not to race was really hard for me but when you have a medical professional telling you that you will do more harm than good if you race then you really don’t have a choice - I had to look at the bigger picture and think about Jerez. After I spoke with the doctor, I took some time out, sat in a room and tried to see what I could do with my leg and it was then that I realised there was no way that I could race.”

Mario Illien, Ilmor GP Team Principal: “I’m very disappointed. The team have worked so hard and we have made some positive changes to the bike - I was expecting better today after the pace we managed to achieve over the past couple of days but we were a couple of seconds down on our own time let alone anyone else’s. We have to concentrate now on identifying the weak areas where we have gone adrift and making some serious improvements ahead of Jerez.”

Losail International Circuit 09.03.07: Today didn’t exactly go to plan for Ilmor GP as the first official qualifying session of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship got underway at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. After making some positive developments during the two free practice sessions yesterday hopes were running high for the qualifying session today however the team suffered a series of minor issues and then unfortunately Jeremy McWilliams took a tumble on his final lap during the hour long timed session.

Luckily the Northern Irishman is made of strong stuff and managed to escape the spectacular off with what appears at the moment to be nothing more than severe bruising. There was initial concern that he had broken his left femur after he fractured it during the pre-season test back in November last year- the team’s initial fears were put to bed when he made his exit from the circuit ambulance on two, albeit wobbly, feet and fiercely refusing the kind offer of a wheelchair.

As a precaution McWilliams will have his leg x-rayed later this afternoon but it will come as no surprise to all who know him that he has every intention of competing in the first race of the season tomorrow. Despite his incident, McWilliams had a relatively positive day and even managed to clock up the seventh fastest recorded speed of the day at 313 Km/h.

And whilst the day didn’t end quite so badly for McWilliams’ team mate Andrew Pitt, the Australian was still left frustrated after experiencing some problems with one of his engines. The electrical team, headed up by Phil Collins, have identified some further areas for the crew to work on as they make final preparations for the race tomorrow.

Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider (20th 1′59.606, lap 10): “It’s a shame that I couldn’t get a full lap on the qualifying tyres, I messed up the first lap and there wasn’t a second in the tyres but the bike was in good shape and I would have liked to see what I could have done. I’m relieved that all I appear to have is some bruising, I can bend my knee and I’m able to put weight on both legs. I’m feeling a little weak and lucky, very lucky! I should be okay tomorrow and I have every intention of racing.”

Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider (21st 1′59.725, lap 7): “It wasn’t a great day for me, we had an engine change and then there was a fuel leak which hampered our overall progress today. The major positive that we can take from today is that we made some good steps forward on the tyre front - we established which tyre not to use for the race - we will use a harder compound to deal with the high track temperature. I’m still experiencing quite a lot of chatter but I know the guys are working on that - I’m not expecting miracles overnight but the team are working very hard to give Jeremy and I the most ridable bikes possible for the race tomorrow.”

Mario Illien, Ilmor GP Team Principal: “I’m glad that Jeremy appears to be okay after his fall. We watched the crash on screen in the box and it looked terrible - we assumed that he’d done more damage than he has fortunately. Qualifying was disappointing and we need to find the reasons for why things didn’t work out the way we planned.”

Losail International Circuit 08.03.07: Ilmor GP continued to make progress today in Qatar ahead of the first race on the 2007 MotoGP World Championship on Saturday. Both riders clocked up a decent amount of laps during the two free practice sessions in dry conditions at the Middle Eastern track.

Following on from the final official test two weeks ago in Jerez, the team have worked tirelessly analysing the data accumulated over the three day test to further improve the bikes overall rideability. The engine has had a significant upgrade since the test so the bike has seen a considerable improvement since the team’s last appearance in Qatar back in February.

It was a good day for the Fiat Yamaha team with Valentino Rossi clocking up the fastest lap of the day at 1.56.464 just ahead of his team mate Colin Edwards with 1.56.665.

Andrew Pitt #88
Fastest Lap: 1.59.930 Top Speed: 301.3 Km/h

Jeremy McWilliams #99
Fastest Lap: 2.00.188 Top Speed: 305.6 Km/h

Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider: “We had a few problems during the second practice session and I had to use my spare bike - minor electrical issues, nothing major. I did 35 laps over the two practice sessions and had some good consistent time to try out the different tyre compounds - we have the front sorted now and I think we’re nearly there with the rear. Overall I’m pleased with today, I got into the 1.59’s which is good and we’re slowly closing the gap - I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider: “Today was positive - the bike is getting better. Again we made good progress but we’re still some way off where we want to be - it wasn’t a bad start though. We tried some new Michelin rubber today and I’m pleased with the performance. I had a couple of minor handling issues but we collected a lot of information over the course of the day so we’ll definitely be in better shape tomorrow.”

Mario Illien, Ilmor GP Team Principal: “I think it’s fair to say that we have continued our trend on from the test in Jerez - we’re still making good improvements to the bikes overall performance - everyone can see that which is very positive - now we just need to focus on maintaining consistency and closing that gap up.”

Mike Janes, Ilmor GP Team Manager: “I’m pleased with today’s performance - we’ve moved forward from the test in Jerez and we continue to make decent steady progress - we have a lot of work to do this afternoon ahead of the third practice session tomorrow and then our first qualifying session of the season but I’m looking forward to making further progress tomorrow.”

Following a productive test in Jerez at the end of February, Ilmor GP, MotoGP’s newest and only British team head out to Qatar this week full of what can only be described as nervous anticipation as the Losail International Circuit plays host to the first round of the MotoGP World Championship 2007.

The race on Saturday (10th March) will be the first opportunity for the team to see how the Ilmor GP 2007 bike matches up to rival team’s bikes under race conditions.

Both Ilmor GP riders Jeremy McWilliams and Andrew Pitt felt that progress was made with the bike’s engine development at the pre-season tests in Qatar and more recently Jerez. The official test at the Spanish circuit was the first time that McWilliams and Pitt got to put the new 2007 engine specification through its paces. The first race in Qatar will see the engine get a further performance upgrade following careful analysis of the data accumulated in Jerez over the test.

Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider: “I’m looking forward to heading back to Qatar, we made good progress during testing out there in February and I like the track. Obviously I’m looking forward to trying out the new engine upgrade, we should have more peak power which should be interesting. After the test in Jerez, I feel more confident, on Saturday I had a good consistent run-out, I did around 22 laps consecutively and made reasonable lap times - consistency is the key during a race so I’m feeling hopeful for the race.”

Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider: “I can’t wait for the first race - it will be great once the lights go green - there’s so much anticipation and nerves before the first race of any season so it’ll be good to get it out of the way! My only slight worry is that due to my accident in Jerez last November I haven’t had as much time on the bike as I would have liked. Physically I feel good, my leg is still a little weak but my upper body is really strong and once I’m on the bike I forget about my leg. Losail is a great circuit to ride, it’s really technical and quite complicated to ride well so I’m looking forward to the challenge. Let’s see what we can do.”

Mario Illien, Ilmor GP Team Principal: “I’m hopeful that we have made some progress with all the data we collected in Jerez - the electronics team have been working very hard since we got back. I’m really looking forward to the first race - it’s going to be really exciting for us as a team to compete in a race situation again.”

Mike Janes, Ilmor GP Team Manager: “We’ve made steady progress in the past few months and we are much clearer on the direction that we need to work towards now. The whole team has been working flat out at the Ilmor factory in Brixworth since Jerez and I know everyone is full of anticipation and waiting to see what we can do in Qatar.

“We’ve come along way in a relatively short space of time, but there are still a number of areas in which we need to improve. Generally, I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved so far although it’s important we continue to make progress as the season gets underway.”

The day started well for both Ilmor GP riders once the mist had lifted at the Jerez Circuit. McWilliams and Pitt continued to make progress with the new 2007 Ilmor GP engine specification with both riders clocking up good lap times however things didn’t quite go so smoothly during the official timed session – Pitt suffered delays due to a malfunctioning fuel pump and McWilliams was hampered by a problem with his new faring.

During the afternoon session the problems with Pitt’s fuel pump cut his testing time short but despite this and the delays both Ilmor GP riders noticed continued improvement with the new engine set-up.

As the team prepares to head out to the Middle East for the World Championship opener in Qatar, the mood remains positive and focussed.

Italian rider Valentino Rossi gave the media something to talk about as he celebrated winning a BMW Z4 in front of the 29,000 fans gathered at the Spanish circuit – the seven time World Champion won the car after clocking up the fastest lap time during the official 40 minute timed session and shortly after being presented with it he jumped onto the roof in front of the cheering crowd. His winning lap time 1.38.394 beats his previous qualifying record of 1.39.064.

Timings for the Official 40 minute Practice Session:

Andrew Pitt #88
Laps: 14 Fastest Lap: 1.43.026 Top Speed: 260.4

Jeremy McWilliams #99
Laps: 9 Fastest Lap: 1.43.202 Top Speed: 266.4

Andrew Pitt, Ilmor GP Rider: “We made good progress this morning – we tried out the qualifying tyres and it felt good – we are definitely continuing to make positive developments. We made some small steps forward with the throttle pick-up which has been an issue previously. It has been great to have Mario here – he’s good for morale and we made some great progress on the electronics side of things, he and his team are able to quickly pinpoint any issues. To be honest, I think we were unlucky in the timed session, I did my best time today and we had a new front tyre which was performing well – I’m sure we could have taken at least another half a second off our best time today.”

Jeremy McWilliams, Ilmor GP Rider: “I was a little disappointed by the timed session today – we had a minor technical issue but once that was sorted I managed to put in some good consistent laps. We have definitely made some steps in the right direction ahead of Qatar. Ideally I would like another test but unfortunately time won’t allow us that privilege. On the whole, things are looking positive.”

Mario Illien, Team Principal: “I’m pleased with the developments we made this morning – we made some strong steps forward however, everything went a little pear shaped during the official timed session – we had problems with Andrew’s fuel pump and things didn’t go as smoothly as we expected. On the plus side, we did improve our lap time with the help of qualifying tyres.