Kawasaki Motors Racing was the European subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which is located in Netherlands. It is responsible for managing the racing activities of the MotoGP team and any other motorcycle racing activities Kawasaki may enter in the future. As of January 2009, Kawasaki pull-out of motoGP due to financial crisis.
The subsidiary was setup in 2007 as a result of the Japanese manufacturer’s recent necessary split from Harald Eckl. The reason for the split was Eckl’s involvement with a competitor’s MotoGP activities, which forced Kawasaki to terminate the relationship immediately. For the first time since Kawasaki returned to the premier class of motorcycle racing, the team became a complete ‘in house’ factory team.
The team used the new 800cc Ninja ZX-RR and Bridgestone tyres in 2007. Randy de Puniet and Olivier Jacque were chosen as team riders.
Olivier Jacque crashed in practice during the Chinese Grand Prix, gashing his arm severely enough to be unable to race for 2 Grands Prix. He returned to racing only to crash again during practice at the Catalan Grand Prix, missing this race too. Following the series of injuries, Olivier announced his retirement from competition to continue as a team test rider. Following the retirement of Olivier Jacque Anthony West was offered the position to race with the team.
The team’s best result was a 2nd place finish by Randy de Puniet at a wet Japanese Grand Prix.
For 2008 John Hopkins joins the team alongside Anthony West
In August of 2008, Kawasaki signed Marco Melandri to join John Hopkins for the 2009 season. However, the global financial crisis of 2008 caused Kawasaki to reconsider its MotoGP program, and the Italian sports daily Tuttosport reported on December 30th that Kawasaki would be pulling out of MotoGP.
Tags: Kawasaki, Moto GP, Ninja ZX-RR
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