Kawasaki Motors Racing was the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an subsidiary of

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (or simply Kawasaki) is a Japanese public multinational corporation manufacturer of motorcycles, engines, heavy equipment, aerospace and defense equipment, rolling stock and ships, headquartered in Chūō, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It is ...

, located in the

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. 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 Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette-class road racing series based on heavily modified production motorcycles, also known as superbike racing. The championship was founded i ...

racing using the

Kawasaki ZX-10R The Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R is a motorcycle in the Ninja sport bike series from the Japanese manufacturer Kawasaki, the successor to the Ninja ZX-9R. It was originally released in 2004 and has been updated and revised throughout the years. It co ...

road bike as a basis, with

Paul Bird Motorsport Paul Bird Motorsport are a British motorcycle road racing, car racing and rallying organisation. The owner Paul Bird competed as a rally driver and was formerly a solo-rider in motocross. His son Frank is a car racer. Motorcycle racing The tea ...

(2009-2011) and Provec Racing, based in

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, 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 Randy de Puniet (born 14 February 1981) is a road racer of motorcycles from France. He competed in Grands Prix racing between 1998 and 2014, where he achieved five wins in the 250cc class. He also competed in the Superbike World Championship d ...

and

Olivier Jacque Olivier Jacque (born 29 August 1973 in Villerupt, France) is a French former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Career He was second in the 250cc European Championship in 1994, before moving on to the 250cc World Championship. H ...

were chosen as team riders.

crashed in practice during the

Chinese Grand Prix The Chinese Grand Prix () is a round of the Formula One World Championship and was contracted to return in 2023 but will now not do so until 2024 at the earliest. It is currently held at the Shanghai International Circuit, Jiading, Shanghai, d ...

, 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

at a wet

Japanese Grand Prix The Japanese Grand Prix ( ja, 日本グランプリ, Nihon-guranpuri) is a motor racing event in the calendar of the Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the Japanese Gran ...

2008 MotoGP season

For

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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 Marco Melandri (born 7 August 1982) is an Italian retired motorcycle road racer who is a five-time premier class race winner. He is the 2002 250 cc World Champion and runner-up in 125 cc, MotoGP and Superbike World Championship. He ...

to join John Hopkins for the 2009 season. However, the

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caused Kawasaki to reconsider its MotoGP program, and the Italian sports daily

Tuttosport ''Tuttosport'' is an Italian sport newspaper published in Turin, Italy. History and profile ''Tuttosport'' was first published on 30 July 1945. Renato Casalbore (who later died in the 1949 Superga air disaster alongside the Il Grande Torino fo ...

reported on December 30 that Kawasaki would be pulling 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

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 The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

. 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)

World Superbike Championship

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

{{Reflist Motorcycle racing teams Motorsport in Japan Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle racing teams established in 2007 2007 establishments in Japan Motorcycle racing teams disestablished in 2009 2009 disestablishments in Japan