The local and international motorcycle racing community is mourning the passing of gifted Aussie motorcycle racer, team manager and engineer, Warren Willing. He is survived by his wife Wendy and daughter Nicole.
Willing passed away on September 4 from cancer, after a career spanning four decades in motorcycle racing. Willing started in 1970 as a racer in Australia and New Zealand before moving up to the 750cc world championship and the famous Daytona 200. In an accident at the North West 200 in Northern Ireland in 1979, Willing suffered severe leg injuries and was forced to retire from racing.
Two years later, his second career started as a team manager and technician, and in the 1980s he was the head honcho at the local Marlboro Yamaha Dealer Team in Australia. The bikes were not only standouts because of the dayglo orange livery, but also because the quality of personnel in the team's ranks, including Mick Doohan, Kevin Magee and Michael Dowson.
Magee and Doohan rose to the heady heights of full-time 500 GP campaigners straight out of Australia, and Willing eventually joined the pair in Europe. Willing's biggest success was the triple 500cc crown of Wayne Rainey from 1990-1992 when he worked as a crew chief in the team of “King” Kenny Roberts, who had scored three consecutive 500cc titles himself a decade prior to Rainey.
In 2000, Willing was one of the key technicians within the Suzuki factory team, leading King Kenny’s son, Kenny Roberts Junior, to the 500 crown.
From 2004 on, Willing worked as a consultant and chassis constructor for KTM in the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP categories with riders such as Casey Stoner, Mika Kallio and Julian Simon in the 125cc class and Hiroshi Aoyama in 250cc.
In 2011, the Australian had a brief stint with MZ Racing, helping out Martin Wimmer's team — whom he knew as a rider from the 1987 Suzuka 8-Hour when he was looking after the German and Magee's winning factory Yamaha.
More recently, Wiling took on a consulting role at Ducati during the transition period between Fillipo Preziosi's and Luigi dall'Igna's respective tenures as Ducati Corse General Manager and Technical Manager.
Willing made an appearance at the Barry Sheene Classic at Sydney Motorsport Park earlier this year, and was clearly in a poor state of health. His passing follows on from his brother Len, who was a local 500 GP, production and superbike rider in the 1980s before his sudden passing.
