Willis races for home track reward.

500cc Proton Team KR rider Mark Willis will compete in his home Grand Prix at Phillip Island this weekend, with his chances bolstered by good track knowledge and recent bike development.

Since the mark three version of the Modenas motorcycle was first raced at round six (the Italian Grand Prix), the Team have been continuously developing the machine in parallel with the Racing programme. This effort, combined with Willis building up his confidence with more track time, has resulted in the team scoring points in all but one of the subsequent Grand Prix.

Team KR team believe that the characteristics of the popular Australian seaside circuit, located to the south of Melbourne, will play into the hands of the lightweight three-cylinder Modenas KR3. This is due to the abundance of fast sweeping corners, which will reward the combination of a nimble handling chassis and torquey engine, while the Modenas' straight-line speed will be more comparable with the four cylinder machines, due to the downhill orientation of the Phillip Island Start/Finish straight.

Twenty-four year old Willis, from Narrabi, New South Wales, admits "I know the circuit like the back of my hand" having previously raced in National Superbike events, and more latterly the 1998 Australian Grand Prix in which he made an impressive GP debut - finishing in the points.

Sunday's race will be just the fourth Grand Prix for Willis on the new bike, having taken over the development from former treble World Champion Luca Cadalora. "I tested the new Mk3 bike at Brno in August, having raced the previous version last year, I felt sure it could do well at Phillip Island - and I'll be aiming to give the bike its best result of the year," stated Willis.

Willis crashed during practise for the previous race, the Pacific Grand Prix, aggravating an old shoulder injury leading him to immediately withdraw from the event - to be sure of his fitness for this weekend.

Team Manager Chuck Aksland explained further the reasons for the teams optimism, "Our best finish this year has been eighth at Catalunya. That was in a wet race, and it showed the bike's potential when good handling is at a premium." He then added "We'd like at least to equal that or even improve upon it at Phillip Island."