Mark Willis

Mark Willis (born 3 May 1976 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was Australian Long Track Champion in 1993 and Australian Rider of the Year in 1996.

Career In 1991, Willis won the NSW championship in Australia. He later became the Australian Long Track Champion in 1993 and 'Australian Rider of the Year' in 1996.

Willis participated in the Australian Superbike Championship in 1997 with the Factory Suzuki Superbike team, Troy Bayliss was his teammate. Willis took his first race win in the wet at Eastern Creek and finished fourth in the championship.

In 1998 Willis was a wildcard ride in the Superbike World Championship at Phillip Island saw Willis finish sixth in Race 1 and ninth in Race 2. This was on a private Suzuki, all the more impressive as he beat both factory Suzuki riders along with many of the other WSB regulars. He competed in both the Australian Superbike and Supersport until injury sidelined him for the final two rounds of both. He was then offered a wildcard ride in the Australian 500 GP as Phillip Island. He finished in a point scoring 14th place.

Willis joined the BSL race team in 1999 to compete in the 500 GP World Championship. The bike suffered persistent mechanical problems and Willis only competed in one race at Jerez. Willis finished the season on a leased Modenas bike. He was consistently the fastest of the three Modenas riders, finishing six out of the last seven races.

In 2000, Willis competed in two rounds of the Endurance World Championship for the Yamaha Motor France team. Along with French teammates Jean-Marc Delétang and Fabien Foret, he won both the Spa 24 Hour and Bol D’Or 24 Hour races. He finished joint seventh in the Championship. Willis was also still with the BSL team in 500 GPs, but got little track time due to the bikes continuing development problems. He left the team and signed with Kenny Roberts Sr. to compete in four of the last five rounds of the season aboard the 3 cylinder Modenas.

Willis signed with the Pulse team in 500cc GP, alongside British teammate Jason Vincent in 2001. His best finish was 13th at Mugello, scoring three points. The team however withdrew from the series in July due to lack of funding.

Later in 2002, Willis entered one race in the Supersport World Championship for the Dutch Saveko Racing team aboard a Yamaha YZF R6, finished 16th at Sugo. In 2006, he competed in four rounds of the Australian NakedBike Championship finishing ninth in the series on board a BMW K1200R. In 2007, Willis competed in the Australian NakedBike Championship riding a Benelli TNT 1130 Sport.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Races by year Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points 1998 500cc SuzukiJPNMALESPITAFRAMADNEDGBRGERCZEIMOCATAUS14ARG 33rd 2 1999 500cc BSL MALDNQ JPN ESP18 FRADNQ ITADNQ CAT 30th 3 Modenas KR3 NED17 GBR GER16 CZE16 IMO17 VALRet AUS15 RSA16 BRA16 ARG14 2000 500cc Modenas KR3 RSA MAL JPN ESP FRA ITA CAT NED GBR GER CZE POR15 VAL BRA14 PACDNS AUSRet 28th 3 2001 500cc Pulse JPN Ret RSA 20 SPA 19 FRA Ret ITA 13 CAT 18 NED 16 GBR 19 GER CZE POR VAL PAC AUS MAL BRA 25th 3

Superbike World Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos 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 1998 Suzuki AUS AUS GBR GBR ITA ITA SPA SPA GER GER SMR SMR RSA RSA USA USA EUR EUR AUT AUT NED NED JPN JPN 23rd 17

Supersport World Championship Races by year Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts 2002 Yamaha ESP AUS RSA JPN16 ITA GBR GER SMR GBR GER NED ITA NC 0