Kawasaki Motors Racing

2008 name	Kawasaki Racing Team
Base	Amsterdam,Netherlands
Principal	Managing Director:Yoshio Kawamura Racing Director:Ichiro Yoda Competition Manager:Michael Bartholemy
Rider(s)	13Anthony West 21John Hopkins
Motorcycle	Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R
Tyres	Bridgestone
Riders' Championships	-

Kawasaki Racing Team (World Superbike)

Founded	2012
Headquarters	Granollers,Spain
Key people	General Manager:Guim Roda Crew Chiefs: Pere Riba, Marcel Duinker Riders for 2023: Jonathan Rea,Alex Lowes (World Superbikes)
Parent	Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine
Website	Kawasaki Racing Team byProvec Racing

Kawasaki Motors Racing was theEuropean subsidiary ofKawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine, located in theNetherlands. It was responsible for managing the racing activities of theMotoGP team.^{[citation needed]}

The subsidiary was established in 2007 as a result of the Japanese manufacturer's necessary split fromHarald Eckl's organisation, who managed the Kawasaki MotoGP team since2002. The reason for the split was Eckl's involvement with a competitor's MotoGP activities, which forced Kawasaki to terminate the relationship immediately.^[1] For the first time since Kawasaki returned to the premier class of motorcycle racing, the team became a complete ‘in house’ factory team.

On January 9, 2009, Kawasaki announced it had decided to "suspend its MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season onward and reallocate management resources more efficiently". The company stated that it will continue racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles as well as supporting general race oriented consumers. The emphasis was subsequently placed onWorld Superbike Championship racing using theKawasaki ZX-10R road bike as a basis, withPaul Bird Motorsport (2009–2011) andProvec Racing, based inGranollers,Barcelona Province, Spain from 2012,^[2][3] together withWorld Supersport 300 from 2019 to 2021.^[4]

After exclusively running their own teams known asKawasaki Racing Team (KRT),^[5][6][7][8] from 2025 Kawasaki entered into a partnership withBimota – as a producer of motorcycle chassis – to be known asBimota by Kawasaki Racing (BbKRT).^[9] Their 2025 World Superbike entry, designatedBimota KB998 Rimini and finished in red, white and black instead of Kawasaki green,^[10] uses ZX-10 Ninja powertrain, as in earlier seasons.^[11] From 2019, Kawasaki has been a major shareholder ofBimota.^[12]

For 2025, Kawasaki has transferred their direct factory KRT Superbike support, including the Ninja green colour branding, toPuccetti Racing, previously asatellite team, and riderGarrett Gerloff.^[13]

Kawasaki's first title was withDave Simmonds in1969 when they won the 125 cc World Championship. Kawasaki dominated the 250 cc and 350 ccgrand prix classes from1978 to1982 winning four titles in each category.

With the introduction of the four-stroke engines intoMotoGP in2002, Kawasaki decided to take part in the new MotoGP World Championship. Kawasaki entered the championship in2003 with 250 cc Grand Prix racerHarald Eckl'sTeam Eckl.

In 2003, the Kawasaki Racing Team was formed after Kawasaki had developed their new 990cc ZX-RR bike throughout 2002 and raced it in the last three races of the2002 MotoGP season. The racing activities were managed byHarald Eckl's team based in Germany. It was not until 2004 that Kawasaki had two riders -Alex Hofmann andShinya Nakano, who raced for the entire season. Nakano placed 3rd inJapan that year achieving Kawasaki's first podium finish in MotoGP.^[14]

In 2007, Kawasaki split from Harald Eckl because of Eckl's involvement with a competitor's MotoGP activities, which forced Kawasaki to terminate the relationship immediately.^[15] Kawasaki formed Kawasaki Motors Racing, aEuropean subsidiary ofKawasaki Heavy Industries responsible for managing the racing activities of theMotoGP team and any other motorcycle racing activities Kawasaki may enter in the future. For the first time since Kawasaki returned to the premier class of motorcycle racing, the team became a complete 'in house' factory team.

On January 9, 2009, Kawasaki announced it had decided to "... suspend its MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season onward and reallocate management resources more efficiently". The company stated that it will continue racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles as well as supporting general race oriented consumers.

• Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Year	Champion
	350 cc	250 cc	125 cc
1982	Anton Mang
1981	Anton Mang	Anton Mang
1980		Anton Mang
1979	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington
1978	Kork Ballington	Kork Ballington
1969			Dave Simmonds

The team used the new 800ccNinja ZX-RR andBridgestone tyres in2007.Randy de Puniet andOlivier Jacque were chosen as team riders.

Olivier Jacque crashed in practice during theChinese 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 theCatalan Grand Prix, missing this race too. Following the series of injuries, Jacque announced his retirement from competition, but planned to continue as a team test rider.^[16] He was replaced by Australian riderAnthony West.^[17]

The team's best result for the season was a 2nd-place finish byRandy de Puniet at a wetJapanese Grand Prix.

For2008John Hopkins joined the team alongsideAnthony West. Results were poor though, being regular midfield runners throughout the season.

In August 2008, Kawasaki signedMarco Melandri to joinJohn Hopkins for the2009 season.^[18] However, theGreat Recession led Kawasaki to reconsider its MotoGP program, and Kawasaki pulled out of MotoGP for 2009.^[19]

After negotiations with DORNA, Kawasaki provided a scaled down team namedHayate Racing Team for the2009 season. The team was renamed due to limited factory involvement, with Kawasaki providing only one bike withMarco Melandri as the sole rider.^[20]

The team achieved better than expected results with 6th and 5th placings early in the season. Melandri finished in 2nd place at theFrench Grand Prix. This result is equal to Kawasaki's best ever result in MotoGP and is their first podium finish since 2007.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Bike	Tyres	Riders	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Points	Pos.
2002	Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR	D		JPN	SAF	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	RIO	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL			4	13th
			Akira Yanagawa													Ret
			Andrew Pitt														19	17	12
2003		D		JPN	SAF	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	CZE	POR	RIO	PAC	MAL	AUS	VAL			15	12th
			Garry McCoy	16	17	18	9	15	17	18	16	16	18	Ret	Ret	Ret	19	13	19
			Andrew Pitt	17	16	15	Ret	16	Ret	14	17	19	16	21	18	16	16	15	18
			Akira Yanagawa	18					Ret
			Alex Hofmann			16		14		10		17	19
2004		B		SAF	ESP	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	RIO	GER	GBR	CZE	POR	JPN	QAT	MAL	AUS	VAL			134	7th
			Shinya Nakano	12	9	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	9	7	15	12	11	3	Ret	8	12	7
			Alex Hofmann	Ret	13	Ret	14	11	13	11	10	19	13	13	10	9	Ret	13	11
2005		B		ESP	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GBR	GER	CZE	JPN	MAL	QAT	AUS	TUR	VAL		150	6th
			Shinya Nakano	5	8	Ret	8	10	9	8	9	Ret	6	12	Ret	Ret	7	7	10	11
			Alex Hofmann	11				12	17	Ret	12	8	Ret	15	Ret					14
			Olivier Jacque			2	11						Ret			Ret	DNS	16	13
2006		B		ESP	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	USA	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL		129	7th
			Shinya Nakano	7	11	8	8	12	11	DSQ	2	Ret	6	Ret	6	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	7
			Randy de Puniet	Ret	Ret	12	12	Ret	13	Ret	14	12	Ret	12	14	13	11	Ret	10	Ret
			Naoki Matsudo															Ret
2007		B		QAT	ESP	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	USA	CZE	SMR	POR	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	176	7th
			Randy de Puniet	Ret	13	8	8	Ret	Ret	5	6	Ret	Ret	6	8	Ret	Ret	2	6	4	9
			Olivier Jacque	12	18	Ret	DNS		16	DNS
			Fonsi Nieto					11
			Anthony West								11	9	8	7	12	8	12	7	12	15	16
			Roger Lee Hayden											10
			Akira Yanagawa															17
2008		B		QAT	ESP	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	GBR	NED	GER	USA	CZE	SMR	IND	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL	112	9th
			Anthony West	16	13	16	17	14	15	12	10	Ret	10	17	5	13	11	15	12	12	17
			John Hopkins	12	7	5	14	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	DNS			11	14	14	10	13	11	14
			Jamie Hacking											11

Year	Team	Bike	Tyres	No.	Riders	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		14		RC	Points	TC	Points	MC	Points
						R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2	R1	R2
2013	Kawasaki Racing Team	ZX-10R	P			AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	POR	POR	ITA	ITA	RUS	RUS	GBR	GBR	GER	GER	TUR	TUR	USA	USA	FRA	FRA	SPA	SPA
				66	Tom Sykes	5	5	Ret	3	1	2	2	3	1	1	3	NC	1	1	Ret	C	11	7	1	4	3	2	1	4	1	1	3	2	1st	447	3rd	649	2nd	501
				76	Loris Baz	6	Ret	5	6	5	3	7	8	5	7	5	4	9	6	8	C	5	1	DNS	DNS									8th	180
				44	David Salom																							11	9	11	11			21st	22
2014						AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	MAL	MAL	ITA	ITA	POR	POR	USA	USA	SPA	SPA	FRA	FRA	QAT	QAT
				1	Tom Sykes	7	3	1	1	2	4	3	5	1	1	Ret	3	1	1	1	8	3	1	5	3	4	4	3	3					2nd	410	2nd	735	2nd	431
				76	Loris Baz	5	2	2	2	4	7	4	4	2	2	Ret	5	2	2	3	6	9	6	Ret	7	5	7	2	7					5th	311
				44	David Salom	9	10	13	10	12	15	12	13	10	10	9	13	11	10	9	17	10	8	9	Ret	DNS	DNS	13	11					12th	103	—	—
2015						AUS	AUS	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	POR	POR	ITA	ITA	USA	USA	MAL	MAL	SPA	SPA	FRA	FRA	QAT	QAT
				65	Jonathan Rea	1	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	1	3	3	1	2	4	4	1	1	2	Ret			1st	548	1st	947	1st	471
				66	Tom Sykes	6	4	3	5	3	Ret	5	5	2	2	1	1	2	8	1	5	2	2	5	14	1	5	2	3	3	3			3rd	399
2016						AUS	AUS	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	MAL	MAL	GBR	GBR	ITA	ITA	USA	USA	GER	GER	FRA	FRA	SPA	SPA	QAT	QAT
				1	Jonathan Rea	1	1	1	2	2	3	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	2	1	1	1	Ret	Ret	1	4	2	3	2	2	3			1st	498	1st	945	1st	582
				66	Tom Sykes	5	6	2	1	3	2	Ret	2	3	3	1	8	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	12	3	3	2	3	4	2			2nd	447
2017	Kawasaki Racing Team	ZX-10RR				AUS	AUS	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	ITA	ITA	USA	USA	GER	GER	POR	POR	FRA	FRA	SPA	SPA	QAT	QAT
				1	Jonathan Rea	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	Ret	1	3	2	2	1	2	2	1	1	1	Ret	1	1	1	1			1st	556	1st	929	1st	599
				66	Tom Sykes	3	6	3	2	3	4	2	2	4	3	1	2	1	3	3	2	3	4	DNS	DNS	3	7	3	5	6	Ret			3rd	373
	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing			88	Randy Krummenacher	10	16	12	Ret	14	14	11	14	13	15	14	Ret	7	8	17	14	12	Ret											16th	50	10th	117
				13	Anthony West																			13	8	18	14							27th	13
				05	Sylvain Guintoli																							6	8	8	8			18th	34
				91	Leon Haslam											2	Ret																	23rd	20
	Pedercini Racing SC-Project			15	Alex de Angelis	14	11	16	11	15	Ret	12	15	11	Ret	17	Ret	12	Ret	14	13													19th	32	13th	42
				84	Riccardo Russo																	Ret	Ret	14	14	15	16	17	16					28th	5 (13)
				11	Jérémy Guarnoni																									11	16			31st	5
	Grillini Racing Team			37	Ondřej Ježek	18	17	18	13	DNS	DNS	16	18	16	17	18	13	14	12	19	17	Ret	16	16	11	16	18	15	Ret	14	14			22nd	22	12th	52
				86	Ayrton Badovini	17	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	17	15	16	15	Ret	16	14	13	11	16	Ret	16	18	12	9	DNS	15	Ret	DNS					21st	26
				44	Roberto Rolfo																									13	15			33rd	4
	Team Kawasaki Go Eleven			40	Román Ramos	13	14	15	9	Ret	11	7	11	9	11	11	8	8	Ret	12	12	14	14	10	15	12	9	10	11	10	10			12th	118	9th	118
	Royal Air Force Reg. & Res. Kawasaki			27	Jake Dixon											Ret	9																	30th	7	15th	7
2018	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK					AUS	AUS	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	CZE	CZE	USA	USA	ITA	ITA	POR	POR	FRA	FRA	ARG	ARG	QAT	QAT
				1	Jonathan Rea	5	2	1	4	1	2	1	2	1	1	2	3	1	Ret	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	C			1st	545	1st	859	570	1st
				66	Tom Sykes	2	4	6	Ret	6	6	4	1	2	3	3	6	3	16	7	8	5	5	5	5	2	4	6	5	2	C			4th	314
	Team Go Eleven Kawasaki			40	Román Ramos	14	11	14	13	10	11	11	Ret	Ret	12	19	Ret	13	10	12	12	13	15	14	Ret	15	18	12	13	14	C			16th	65	12th	65
	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing			54	Toprak Razgatlıoğlu	13	10	15	8	9	9	10	9	11	8	21	2	10	9	Ret	DNS	11	12	8	Ret	8	12	3	7	10	C			9th	151	7th	165
				91	Leon Haslam									9	16	9	Ret																	20th	14
	Team Pedercini Racing			68	Yonny Hernández	Ret	DNS	16	11	14	16	16	15	17	13			11	14	11	15	Ret	16	12	16									18th	28	13th	35
				41	Luke Mossey											17	14																	28th	2
				11	Jérémy Guarnoni																					17	19							NC	0
				16	Gabriele Ruiu																							14	14	15	C			25th	5
	Orelac Racing VerdNatura			36	Leandro Mercado	10	12	13	Ret	Ret	13	8	Ret	15	10	13	12	12	17	Ret	11	10	17	11	15	14	15	Ret	12	12	C			15th	70	11th	70
	SPB racing			5	Vladimir Leonov					DNS	17			Ret	Ret																			NC	0	NC	0
	Team WD40			55	Mason Law											Ret	Ret																	NC	0	NC	0

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Bike	Tyres	No.	Riders	1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8			9			10			11			12			13			RC	Points	TC	Points	MC	Points
						R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2
2019	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	ZX-10RR	P			AUS	AUS	AUS	THA	THA	THA	SPA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	ITA	SPA	SPA	SPA	ITA	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	GBR	USA	USA	USA	POR	POR	POR	FRA	FRA	FRA	ARG	ARG	ARG	QAT	QAT	QAT
				91	Leon Haslam	15	3	3	5	5	5	9	7	4	5	C	8	5	6	C	9	6	5	Ret	3	3	3	3	5	Ret	5	6	5	5	5	Ret	9	7	6	8	10	5	4	9	7th	281	1st	944	1st	673
				1	Jonathan Rea	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	C	3	1	1	C	4	4	2	1	5	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1st	663
2020						AUS	AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	SPA	POR	POR	POR	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	FRA	FRA	FRA	POR	POR	POR
				22	Alex Lowes	2	4	1	9	7	5	4	4	Ret	Ret	6	9	6	6	5	9	7	8	3	2	9	6	Ret	Ret																6th	189	2nd	549	1st	392
				1	Jonathan Rea	Ret	1	2	2	1	6	1	1	1	3	1	1	2	2	1	1	2	4	1	1	4	4	5	14																1st	360
2021						SPA	SPA	SPA	POR	POR	POR	ITA	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	GBR	NED	NED	NED	CZE	CZE	CZE	SPA	SPA	SPA	FRA	FRA	FRA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	SPA	POR	POR	POR	ARG	ARG	ARG	INA	INA	INA
				22	Alex Lowes	2	2	3	19	6	4	5	5	6	3	14	6	Ret	6	7	13	7	6	5	5	6	Ret	3	Ret	6	4	Ret	9	C	DNS	DNS	DNS	DNS	4	9	DNS	DNS	C	DNS	8th	213	3rd	764	3rd	570
				1	Jonathan Rea	1	1	2	[3	1	1	3	3	3	2	1	20	1	1	1	Ret	3	3	2	2	3	2	1	2	4	1	6	2	C	5	Ret	Ret	1	2	3	2	1	C	1	2nd	551
2022						SPA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	NED	POR	POR	POR	ITA	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	GBR	CZE	CZE	CZE	FRA	FRA	FRA	SPA	SPA	SPA	POR	POR	POR	ARG	ARG	ARG	INA	INA	INA	AUS	AUS	AUS
				22	Alex Lowes	Ret	6	5	Ret	Ret	4	7	6	4	5	8	8	3	5	6	9	Ret	DNS	4	4	4	7	3	Ret	5	4	5	6	5	4	9	7	9	3	4	3				6th	272	3rd	774	3rd	530
				65	Jonathan Rea	1	2	2	1	1	Ret	3	1	1	2	3	4	2	2	3	4	2	3	24	3	5	2	2	4	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	2	3	1	3	2				3rd	502
2023						AUS	AUS	AUS	INA	INA	INA	NED	NED	NED	SPA	SPA	SPA	EMI	EMI	EMI	GBR	GBR	GBR	ITA	ITA	ITA	CZE	CZE	CZE	FRA	FRA	FRA	SPA	SPA	SPA	POR	POR	POR	SPA	SPA	SPA
				22	Alex Lowes	Ret	4	Ret	10	3	13	7	4	9	Ret	5	4	7	6	Ret	6	6	6	9	7	Ret	9	7	14	8	Ret	DNS				5	Ret	DNS	7	Ret	DNS				11th	149	3rd	518	3rd	391
				65	Jonathan Rea	2	7	8	9	4	Ret	2	2	Ret	3	Ret	5	5	5	4	3	3	5	3	4	3	1	2	3	3	3	3	3	2	4	3	Ret	10	4	3	17				3rd	370
				99	Florian Marino																												16	16	15										24th	1
2024						AUS	AUS	AUS	SPA	SPA	SPA	NED	NED	NED	ITA	ITA	ITA	GBR	GBR	GBR	CZE	CZE	CZE	POR	POR	POR	FRA	FRA	FRA	ITA	ITA	ITA	SPA	SPA	SPA	POR	POR	POR	SPA	SPA	SPA
				22	Alex Lowes	4	1	1	6	5	6	5	3	Ret	5	3	4	2	5	3	Ret	3	9	5	3	3	Ret	2	4	20	2	5	7	Ret	DNS	4	6	12	4	3	5				4th	316	3rd	445	3rd	339
				47	Axel Bassani	12	11	11	10	14	Ret	9	13	18	11	6	7	12	Ret	10	16	13	Ret	8	12	15	11	10	11	5	11	Ret	12	15	12	Ret	12	10	8	14	10				14th	108

• Motorcycle racing teams
• Motorsport in Japan
• Kawasaki Motors
• Motorcycle racing teams established in 2007
• 2007 establishments in Japan
• Motorcycle racing teams disestablished in 2009
• 2009 disestablishments in Japan

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