The Ninja ZX-RR is a race bike from Kawasaki, which raced in the

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

world championship until 2009. The bike made its debut towards the end of the 2002 MotoGP season with riders

Andrew Pitt Andrew Pitt (born 19 February 1976 in Kempsey, New South Wales, Australia) is a retired motorcycle racer. He is a double World Supersport Champion, and has also won a World Superbike race and competed in MotoGP. He lives in Peel on the Isle o ...

(Australia) and

Akira Yanagawa is a Japanese former professional motorcycle road racer. He won three World Superbike Championship races and finished on the podium on 20 further occasions. Career He started racing on mini-bikes before becoming Japan's 250cc champion in 1989. ...

(Japan).

Racing history

In 2004,

Shinya Nakano is a retired Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Superbike rider. He is not related to the former Formula One racer Shinji Nakano. Career Early career Nakano was All-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in b ...

joined the Kawasaki team and got the ZX-RR's first podium with a third place at the

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, Formula One World Championship. Historically, Japan has been one of the last races of the season, and as such the ...

. The bike earned second place over the next three years: in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

with

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. He ...

at 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 ...

; in 2006 with Nakano at the

Dutch TT The Dutch Tourist Trophy, also known as the ''TT Assen'', is an annual Dutch motorsport event established in 1925 for road racing motorcycles held on the TT Circuit Assen, also known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed'. The event attained world champ ...

; and in 2007 with

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 ...

at the Japanese Grand Prix. The ZX-RR struggled in 2008, with the best results being two fifth-place finishes from John Hopkins in Portugal and Anthony West in Brno. Hopkins and West blamed both a lack of feeling in the front end and rear traction on corner exit, a complaint

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 c ...

also had in 2009. During the 2008 season, Kawasaki announced its retirement from the MotoGP world championship.

Forward Racing Forward Racing is a motorcycle racing team competing in the Moto2 World Championship. History The team started competing in the MotoGP class as the Hayate Racing Team, a scaled down version of the Kawasaki factory team that withdrew from MotoGP ...

took over the ZX-RR as the Hayate racing team and recruited

to ride during the 2009 season; Melandri won fourth place. At the end of the season, Hayate withdrew from MotoGP. The bike, with some changes, has been ridden a few times since its last official appearance in 2009 under the name Avintia GP14.

Riders

As the Avintia GP14

Specifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kawasaki Ninja Zx-Rr Ninja ZX-RR Grand Prix motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 2002