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.

History 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,Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki.eu Retrieved 11 January 2019KRT 2019 launch date is set Kawasaki.eu Retrieved 11 January 2019 together with World Supersport 300 from 2019 to 2021.Ana Carrasco signs with Provec Racing in WorldSSP300 wsbk.com, 3 January 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019

After exclusively running their own teams known as Kawasaki Racing Team (KRT),Kawasaki Racing Team Heading to Another Happy Hunting Ground www.cycleworld.com, 7 March 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2025KRT Launches Official 2021 WorldSBK Livery www.akrapovic.com, 29 March 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2025Bimota To Return To WorldSBK, Joining Forces With KRT motomatters.com, 24 April 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025Lowes Signs For 2025 Bimota By Kawasaki Racing Team Project 14 June 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025 from 2025 Kawasaki entered into a partnership with Bimota – as a producer of motorcycle chassis – to be known as Bimota by Kawasaki Racing (BbKRT).New Era Begins On Track For bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team www.kawasaki.co.uk, 23 October 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025 Their 2025 World Superbike entry, designated Bimota KB998 Rimini and finished in red, white and black instead of Kawasaki green,BIMOTA ARE BACK: Italian brand unveils stunning red, white and black livery for WorldSBK return in 2025 www.worldsbk.com, 6 February 2025. Retrieved 23 February 2025 uses ZX-10 Ninja powertrain, as in earlier seasons.Bimota returns to WorldSBK in 2025 www.kawasaki.co.uk, 24 April 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025 From 2019, Kawasaki has been a major shareholder of Bimota.Welcoming the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team at 2025 WorldSBK! worldsbkstore.com, 28 October 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2025

For 2025, Kawasaki has transferred their direct factory KRT Superbike support, including the Ninja green colour branding, to Puccetti Racing, previously a satellite team, and rider Garrett Gerloff.Kawasaki confirms Puccetti for 2025 in WorldSBK www.kawasaki.co.uk, 8 August 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2025

Racing background Kawasaki's first title was with Dave Simmonds in 1969 when they won the 125 cc World Championship. Kawasaki dominated the 250 cc and 350 cc grand prix classes from 1978 to 1982 winning four titles in each category.

With the introduction of the four-stroke engines into MotoGP in 2002, Kawasaki decided to take part in the new MotoGP World Championship. Kawasaki entered the championship in 2003 with 250 cc Grand Prix racer Harald Eckl's Team 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 the 2002 MotoGP season. The racing activities were managed by Harald Eckl's team based in Germany. It was not until 2004 that Kawasaki had two riders - Alex Hofmann and Shinya Nakano, who raced for the entire season. Nakano placed 3rd in Japan that year achieving Kawasaki's first podium finish in MotoGP.Kawasaki Racing Team highrevs.net. Retrieved on 2009-05-10

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. Kawasaki formed Kawasaki Motors Racing, a European subsidiary of Kawasaki Heavy Industries responsible for managing the racing activities of the MotoGP 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

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.Kawasaki to race as Hayate MotoGP in 2009 motorcyclenews.com. Retrieved on 2009-05-09

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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 10 Akira Yanagawa 17 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 results