Kawasaki Motors Racing

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)	13 Anthony West 21 John 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 by Provec Racing

Kawasaki Motors Racing was the European subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine, located in the Netherlands. It was responsible for managing the racing activities of the MotoGP team.

The subsidiary was established in 2007 as a result of the Japanese manufacturer's necessary split from Harald Eckl's organisation, who managed the Kawasaki MotoGP team since 2002. 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.

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 on World Superbike Championship racing using the Kawasaki ZX-10R road bike as a basis, with Paul Bird Motorsport (2009–2011) and Provec Racing, based in Granollers, Barcelona Province, Spain from 2012, together with World Supersport 300 from 2019 to 2021.

Racing background

2007 MotoGP season

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, Jacque announced his retirement from competition, but planned to continue as a team test rider. He was replaced by Australian rider Anthony West.

The team's best result for the season was a 2nd-place finish by Randy de Puniet at a wet Japanese Grand Prix.

2008 MotoGP season

For 2008 John Hopkins joined the team alongside Anthony West. Results were poor though, being regular midfield runners throughout the season.

In August 2008, Kawasaki signed Marco Melandri to join John Hopkins for the 2009 season. However, the Great Recession led Kawasaki to reconsider its MotoGP program, and Kawasaki pulled out of MotoGP for 2009.

2009 MotoGP season

After negotiations with DORNA, Kawasaki provided a scaled down team named Hayate Racing Team for the 2009 season. The team was renamed due to limited factory involvement, with Kawasaki providing only one bike with Marco Melandri as the sole rider.

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

MotoGP results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics 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

World Superbike Championship

Year	Team	Bike	Tyres	Riders	1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		12		13		Points	Pos.
2017					PHI		CHA		ARA		ASS		IMO		DON		MIS		LAG		LAU		POR		MAG		JER		LOS		599	1st
					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
	Kawasaki Racing Team	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	P	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
				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
	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing			Randy Krummenacher	10	16	12	Ret	14	14	11	14	13	15	14	Ret	7	8	17	14	12	Ret
				Anthony West																			13	8	18	14
				Sylvain Guintoli																							6	8	8	8
				Leon Haslam											2	Ret
	Pedercini Racing SC-Project			Alex de Angelis	14	11	16	11	15	Ret	12	15	11	Ret	17	Ret	12	Ret	14	13
				Riccardo Russo																	Ret	Ret	14	14	15	16	17	16
				Jérémy Guarnoni																									11	16
	Grillini Racing Team			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
				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
				Roberto Rolfo																									13	15
	Team Kawasaki Go Eleven			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
	Royal Air Force Reg. & Res. Kawasaki			Jake Dixon											Ret	9
2018					PHI		CHA		ARA		ASS		IMO		DON		BRN		LAG		MIS		POR		MAG		VIL		LOS		570	1st
					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
	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK			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
				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
	Team GoEleven Kawasaki			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
	Kawasaki Puccetti Racing			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
				Leon Haslam									9	16	9	Ret
	Team Pedercini Racing			Yonny Hernández	Ret	DNS	16	11	14	16	16	15	17	13			11	14	11	15	Ret	16	12	16
				Luke Mossey											17	14
				Jérémy Guarnoni																					17	19
				Gabriele Ruiu																							14	14	15	C
	Orelac Racing VerdNatura			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
	SPB racing			Vladimir Leonov					DNS	17			Ret	Ret
	Team WD40			Mason Law											Ret	Ret

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

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

^* Season still in progress.