Mark Willis (born 3 May 1976 in Narrabri, NSW, Australia) is an Australian

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

road racer.

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. He participated in the Australian Superbike Championship in 1997 with the Factory Suzuki Superbike team,

Troy Bayliss Troy Bayliss (born 30 March 1969 in Taree, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his career afte ...

was his teammate. Willis took his first race win in the wet at Eastern Creek and finished 4th in the championship. In 1998 Willis was a wildcard ride in the

Superbike World Championship Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

at Phillip Island saw Willis finish 6th in Race 1 and 9th 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 6 out of the last 7 races. In 2000 Willis competed in 2 rounds of the

Endurance World Championship The Endurance World Championship ( FIM EWC) is the premier worldwide endurance championship in motorcycle road racing. The championship season consists of a series of endurance races (with a duration of six, eight, twelve or twenty-four hours) h ...

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 7th 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 Snr. to compete in 4 of the last 5 rounds of the season aboard the 3 cylinder Modenas. Willis signed with the

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

team in 500cc GP, alongside British teammate Jason Vincent in 2001. His best finish was 13th at Mugello, scoring 3 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 The Supersport World Championship, abbreviated to WorldSSP, is a motorcycle racing competition on hard-surfaced circuits, based on mid-sized sports motorcycles. Competition machines were originally based on production-based motorcycles with 600 ...

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 9th 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

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Mark 1976 births Living people Australian motorcycle racers People from the North West Slopes 500cc World Championship riders Superbike World Championship riders Supersport World Championship riders Sportsmen from New South Wales