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Imola - September, 1999
BSL rider Mark Willis will ride a three-cylinder Modenas for most of the upcoming races this season, after teething troubles with the New Zealand built BSL triple proved harder to solve than the team had anticipated.
Development will continue on the innovative three-cylinder BSL away from the track, but in spite of promising tests at Valencia and Catalunya during the long summer break, the team have decided to withdraw the bike for the rest of the season. This is in the interests of getting more racing experience for rider and crew, prior to a return in the year 2000.
\"We want to race next year with a two-rider team if possible - Mark and a New Zealand rider,\" said team co-ordinator Dave Stewart.
Team owner Bill Buckley was still fully committed to the project, said Stewart, and had taken on extra staff at the computer equipment firm\'s New Zealand base to continue intensive development.
\"We made good progress with the bike, and we seem to have solved the crankshaft problem,\" continued Stewart. \"But there were other problems, and after re-appraising the situation we decided that it was too wasteful to try and solve them at such a great distance, while at the same time trying to gain racing experience. If the team at home is able to make good progress with the BSL we may run the bike again this season, it will depend on reliability.
\"This season has been very disappointing for Mark and for the team, and the Modenas solution offered a chance to rebuild team morale and get some track miles up.\"
The BSL triple was expected to appear next year, but possibly only as a Wild Card machine in occasional rides. \"We are talking to Modenas and also to V4 manufacturers about bikes for the full-time team next year,\" said Stewart.
News Item courtesy of Tim Gibbes
