Red Flag
Superstar of the ‘seventies WARREN WILLING lost his long fight with cancer at 1am on Saturday 5th September. Warren had been hospitalised for many months, but never lost the fighting spirit that saw him rise to the very top not just as a rider, but as one of the world’s foremost Grand Prix engineers. Warren’s racing career began in a modest way on his selftuned Suzuki T20, but it was the Easter Bathurst meeting in 1974 when he exploded into the big time with his epic battle with great mate Gregg Hansford in the Unlimited Grand Prix, which he won by a wheel. While Gregg moved to Kawasaki, Warren stepped up to become the leading light in Yamaha’s race efforts locally, aboard his selfdeveloped TZ700/750s with sponsorship from Levi’s Jeans and Golden Breed organised by Vincent Tesoriero. In battling with the works OW31 of Ikijuro Takai at Bathurst in 1976, Warren set the first 100 mph lap of the circuit by a motorcycle. Although he enjoyed success in USA and made several attempts to break into the European scene as a rider, he was perennially under financed and had made up his mind to quit when he was critically injured in a crash in Northern Ireland in 1979. As he lay on the track, a bystander held his femoral artery together for nearly 30 minutes until he was eventually transported to hospital, where Dr. Matthews overruled other staff who wanted to amputate his leg. After almost five months in Coleraine Hospital, Warren and his wife Wendy were able to return to Australia. It was five years and 18 operations later before he was able to walk without crutches. Despite the need for continual hospitalisation and medical treatment, Warren re-established his ties with Yamaha and eventually took over as manager of the local Toshiba Yamaha Dealer Team, running a three-rider squad with his brother Lenny, Ron Boulden and Gary Coleman – totalling dominating the 500cc Championship class for two years. Later, with the team sponsored by Marlboro, he guided the careers of Kevin Magee, Michael Dowson and Michael Doohan. All three went on to international success, and so did Warren, working with Wayne Rainey, Luca Cadalora, Eddie Lawson, John Kozinski and Jean-Michel Bayle in the Kenny Roberts-run works Yamaha team. In 1999 he accepted an offer to join Suzuki’s GP team as Technical Director and
OLD BIKE AUSTRALASIA : within two seasons Roberts had won the 500cc Championship. Stints with KTM and Ducati followed, as well as a brief return to the Roberts squad, but as the years passed Warren’s health began to deteriorate rapidly. To Warren’s devoted wife Wendy, daughter Nicole, brother Glenn, sisters Rhonda and Julie and his extended family, OBA extends sincere condolences.