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Tougher than a very tough thing. The world of 500 GP bike racing...
The BSL 500 V3: A Work in Progress Bill Buckley’s dream is alive and revving in New Zealand. Expect to see the BSL triple soon. 04 JUL 00 - by Darryl Flack -- special to MotoGP (thanks) After a troubled debut in 1999 that ended in retreat, the BSL V3 may well make an appearance at the Australian Grand Prix in October. And according to Buckley Systems boss Bill Buckley, season 2001 is better than a 50 percent proposition. The small but enthusiastic BSL squad has been extensively testing its New Zealand designed and built V3 500 throughout 2000 and has made significant progress in the bike’s reliability and performance. The team has successfully raced the bike several times in New Zealand, and the spate of piston seizures and crank failures that bedeviled the bike last year appear to have been solved. With the short-term future of two-stroke 500s assured, Buckley has come too far to turn back, and given the newfound momentum the team is enjoying, let’s hope we get to see his life’s dream on the grid this year and beyond. MotoGP: We haven’t spoken to you since late January. Can you update us on how the BSL is coming along? Bill Buckley: It’s going much better now. It’s reliable and we’re starting to get reasonable horsepower, and I think we’ll be at the Australian Grand Prix as a wildcard entry. We’re actually trying to get three bikes there for two riders, just to make sure we can finish. We think it will be competitive, but because it’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere at the moment, we need to do some testing in a warmer climate, so we might go testing in Queensland or even Malaysia. MotoGP: Have you been racing the bike? BB: We’ve been running two bikes almost every week at Pukekohe and last week we went to Manfeild. We had to start off the back of the grid and we won a couple of races, and we probably could’ve won more, but because there is a 95dBa noise limit in New Zealand, we had to short shift all the time to come under that. MotoGP: You mentioned that you were having problems getting the pistons right from the foundry in America. Has that improved? BB: We’ve been able to send the pistons back to the manufacturer to give them a shot at re-grinding them, and they’ve been better each time. We’ve been working on them too, again, getting better each time. We also did quite a bit of work on the crank, changing the configuration three or four times. Touch wood -- it’s starting to go better. When we pull it down, everything looks good but the races here are short so until we do a number of GP race stints in testing, we won’t really know. MotoGP: Have you been able to do that? BB: Unfortunately, we were going to do a full GP race distance test when our rider Steve Briggs broke his collarbone last weekend. He was going a bit too hard into the hairpin with a bit of tail breeze and full fuel load and crashed. The bike went end for end, but luckily it wasn’t too badly damaged. MotoGP: What developments have you made with the engine? BB: We finally got the complete triple engine up on the dyno. We only had a single cylinder on the dyno before, and what we assumed was the correct ignition timing was wrong -- it was a little retarded. From the single-cylinder, we thought the calibration for the others would be right, from what the computer was telling us, but now it’s spot on. MotoGP: If the ignition was retarded, what was causing the seizures? BB: The seizures were really due to the shape of the piston, and also now we’ve got the bike running cooler, because we did have problems with it overheating. We’ve made important changes, but when it comes to this level of development, we’re still a little green. We’ve had to learn everything, because we have no real experience to work off. Still, it’s definitely a GP bike now, and it’s going around Pukkie as fast as anything. We’re hitting 283 kmh down the back straight, which is pretty good because you’re coming out of the last corner pretty slowly. I don’t think we’re far off the pace for a V3. MotoGP: How did you solve the crank failure problem? BB: When we first built the engine, we did the crank timing off the number-one cylinder, then checked if the crank was positioned correctly, then we took the same degrees off that to set the timing for cylinders two and three. But the calibration for the timing in our computer was off, and we didn’t pick it up until we had the whole three cylinders running on the dyno with a strobe light. We’ve also changed how we make the crank, along with the heat treatment and the radius of the pins, things like that, and we don’t seem to be getting any fatigue now. MotoGP: Is it true that you designed the power valve for the engine? BB: Yes. We’ve just refined it a bit. It’s just a rack and pinion setup that runs vertical to the piston. I nutted that out myself when the guys who were designing the engine got stuck on that. MotoGP: Are you planning any more changes with the bike? BB: We’re working on a new engine for next year. It’s just a slightly modified version of what we have now. As far as the weight limit goes, we can get down to that with titanium pipes, fasteners, etc, so we’ve kept track of all that, and we’ve been trimming things. We’ve also been trying to get it to run right out of fuel because it starts to miss when we get down to four litres. We just have to work on the design of the tank. MotoGP: Has the extra speed from the bike exposed any deficiencies in the chassis? BB: Everybody’s still really happy with the chassis, it’s like it’s on rails. It handles well, according to everyone’s who’s ridden it. It doesn’t shake, and it’s turning at the right speed, maybe a fraction too slow, but we’ve had no complaints. MotoGP: What are your plans for 2001? BB: Our plan is to run a one-man team at least. I’m planning to run the thing at no cost to my business. I need a sponsor like anybody else, but if we don’t get one, then that won’t stop me. We’re still working on sponsorship prospects in France, and we’ve got tentative ones and some of them have got a lot to do with Australia and New Zealand. If we can prove to be competitive at the Australian Grand Prix, that will obviously be a big help. My plan is to have an established GP rider as our number one rider, and enter wildcards at some of the other races. We’d like to run Steve at some of those. There’s a pretty good chance we’ll be there, but a lot hangs in the balance between now and then. MotoGP: Have you had any luck with sponsors? BB: Dave [Stewart] is working for us in France on some deals, and I think we’ll get something there. I want to keep a New Zealand team solely for development, and not send the whole team over to the Australian Grand Prix like last time. I think it’s very important to keep the development going in New Zealand, as this year has proved. We didn’t do that last year, so it’s important to get a sponsor to support the race effort while we keep improving the bike at home. Mark Willis joins Norick Abe on the Antena 3 Yamaha?20/3/00

Mark Willis has been named to join Japan's Norifume Abe in the Antena 3 d'Antin Yamaha Team on board a V4 YZR 500.
Mark Willis was the Red Bull stand-in for the injured Régis Laconi during off season testing. While the V4's power overwhelmed Willis on occasion at Jerez, he expects to be ready to go 'hard out' for the approaching season starting in a few days. Willis flew to South Africa to stand in for Laconi should the French rider be unfit to ride after the broken leg which forced him to abandon preseason testing. However Laconi did compete leaving Willis to watch and wait for the opportunity on one of the YZR500 machines.

11/3/00
The season kicks off on the 19th of March at Welkom, with a few notable absences. This will be Mick Doohan's first season on the other side of the pit wall, serving as team manager for Valentino Rossi's Nastro Azzuro Honda Team.
Mike Hale and Jean Michel Bayle move on leaving David de Gea the sole rider of a KR3 this year.
The MuZ Weber team is no more through the departure of the Weber sponsorship. The MuZ bikes may yet turn up in another team.
And of course the BSL team remains a 'Developmental Entry'. They may enter races through the year as and when available.

Willis tests for Yamaha at Jerez.

Mark Willis has joined fellow Australian Gary McCoy in the Red Bull Yamaha Team on board Regis Laconi's YZR 500.
Mark Willis, the Red Bull stand-in for the injured Régis Laconi, was coming off a season aboard the less powerful and lighter BSL Modenas KR3. But Willis got a bit over-anxious this afternoon and high-sided the #68 Yamaha pretty hard. Willis' race engineer, Malcom Pitman, had his crew working on the crashed bike right away.

"Poor Mark just flew straight in from Australia," said Pitman, "and we just asked him to use today to familiarize himself with the bike. All we've done is change lever positions and things like that, and I've had him try some different tire constructions to get him used to different feels. He used a soft front all year last year and since this bike is a bit heavier and faster, I wanted to get him used to a harder front tire."

Pitman knew Willis would struggle a bit with the feel of a harder front, but Willis told him that he liked the harder construction once he learned to trust it. I believe that trust is a big part of this whole 500GP riding thing. Unfortunately, Willis wasn't quite ready for the extra power provided by the Yamaha.

"Mark spent last year on a three-cylinder and he got a bit too aggressive on the throttle," Pitman said.
He was watching his team rebuild the bike after they had checked some crucial measurements to guarantee straightness.
"Regardless of whether we win, lose or crash, I let my crew know what is expected of them," Pitman said. "They all understand that a crash is all part of the push to go faster, and as long as they perform their best, that's all we can ask."

Willis is expected to step down from the team when Laconi recovers and returns for the racing season. Willis and/or New Zealander Simon Crafar will be called upon for wildcard duties when the BSL V3 bikes are available for racing this year.

A HOT AND DUSTY AFRICAN GRAND PRIX IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Welkom - October 10, 1999:
The brand new Welkom circuit in South Africa was plagued by whirling dust storms in the week leading up the Grand prix. Although the wind had abated by Friday, the first day of practice, the track surface was covered with a fine layer of very slippery sand. As the weekend progressed and a definite racing line was defined the grip improved, and lap times decreased, it was difficult to overtake however with dust making a passing attempt off the race line risky. Max Biaggi dominated the race from the start and was never really challenged, taking the lead from the start and never losing it. Mark Willis, still nursing a shoulder injury, overcame a poor start (22nd position after lap one) on a slippery track surface and rode well to get a 16th place in a race where all but two riders finished. A rear brake caliper leak from a blown seal slowed his progress through the field, with brake fluid leaking onto the tyre and no rear brake Willis rode to maintain his position in the race. MARK WILLIS: 16th Position There was a lot of dust on the track surface at the start grid away from the racing line and I went sideways as I left the line so a bad start meant I was playing catch up. Losing the rear brake made it impossible for me to make up ground in the second half of the race. DAVE STEWART - Team Manager This was a disappointing result for us, we have a great technical team and rarely have mechanical problems with the Modenas, losing the rear brake made it difficult for Mark who uses a lot of rear brake into corners. Mark did ride very well in the first half of the race but struggled to keep his position as the race went on. It was good being able to finish today in this position, very few riders retired or crashed out in this GP.