Former racer and World Championship-winning tuner Warren Willing died September 4, according to the official website of the MotoGP World Championship.
Willing was an aspiring professional racer from Australia who competed in the Daytona 200, the North West 200 and the 750cc World Championship, among many other International events, but his career as a rider was cut short when he was seriously injured in 1979.
A few years later, Willing began working as a tuner, crew chief and team manager. In addition to working with Team Roberts, Willing worked with Suzuki-mounted Kenny Lee Roberts (a.k.a. Kenny Roberts Jr.) during his 2000 500cc World Championship.
Most recently, he contributed to Ducati’s MotoGP project during the transition between Fillipo Presiosi and Luigi dall’Inga.
Former 500cc World Championship rider Jean Michel Bayle posted the following tribute to Willing on his personal Facebook page on September 5:
“Today I am sad. Warren Willing passed away. Warren was my chief engineer during my first season in 500. He was an incredible engineer, he was also at the eve of the famous motorcycle of Kenny Robert, the KR3, that I have driven in 1997. But the technical side is not all. Warren was also a man, a true man, full of passion and knowledge. He helped me a lot during this 1996 season. It has given me the confidence to get my first pole position in 500. Warren loved sharing his knowledge and I was obviously completely full of attention to his advices. When I got this pole position, in Brno, I stopped 10 min of the end of the qualifying session to get a new tire. Mick Doohan had just improved his time, taking the provisional pole. I wanted to leave the garage immediately, but Warren asked me to wait, he wanted to check the datas of my fastest lap. Four minutes later, he came back to me to explain me which turns I was right, and in wich turns I could go faster to earn a few tenths. I did what he told me, I managed to reproduce my fastest lap applying his advices with method to earn those few tenths in the two curves that he had indicated. When I get past the line, I saw that I had improved my time by more than 4 tenth. At that time, I did not know if I had managed to beat the master Mick Doohan. It is by returning to the box, when all the team has me applauded that I understood that I had succeeded. Warren, always in the shadow, gave a simple glance. That day, and especially this time, is still in my memory. The glance of the sharing of knowledge. Thank you Warren for having done me take advantage of all these knowledge. Of knowledge which does not have a price and which nobody can’t buy. A big thought and my sincere condolences to his family and to all his relatives. JMB. Jean Michel Bayle”