Visordown is reporting that they have a source who has uncovered an unofficial report that Kawasaki has been chosen as the sole motor supplier for the new Moto2 race series. The source goes on to allege that a deal has already been signed for Kawasaki to supply the one-make motors for the class, despite . Apparently, the deal has been done on down-low in order to keep Kawasaki involved in the MotoGP racing series.
When Marco Melandri signed with Hayate, he knew that Kawasaki would only be doing limited development on the ZX-RR in 2009. According to MCN that limited development will be quite limited after all, with Kawasaki ceasing to update the ZX-RR at the end of March, shortly after the Jerez tests. From then on, the factory will provide a maintenance service only, with no more upgrades, leaving Hayate to update the bike if they wish.
Today Marco Melandri confirmed that he has signed a one-year contract with Hayate Racing to race in this year’s MotoGP championship that will replace his previous two-year contract with Kawasaki.
The deal is a costly one for Melandri, both financially and in terms of his ability to compete. “I had to make a big financial sacrifice, but the most important thing that I wanted was to find trust,” he told MotoGP. Throughout the last test at Qatar, Melandri complained of issues with rear grip, a similar complaint he had with the Kawasaki, and he expressed his hope that these problems could be fixed quickly.
“I have nothing to lose. One month ago I had one foot outside the World Championship, and now I have a team that is working solely for me. My motivation is this, and to show Kawasaki that they made a mistake in choosing to pull out their factory support.”
In another month’s time, at the season opener at Qatar, we shall see whether Melandri’s hope as justified.
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It seems that the Kawasaki drama is finally about to come to a close. Marco Melandri has announced that he has decided to sign with the new Hayate Racing Team (the official name of the 1 bike Kawasaki MotoGP bid). Not wanting to be left out, John Hopkins has also made a statement about his situation and plans for the 2009 season.
It is now official, Marco Melandri will be on the grid at Qatar for the start of the 2009 season with a factory supported Kawasaki. Kawasaki issued a statement earlier today, stating that the agreement to provide support for the team had come because of “the necessity to come to constructive solutions for all related parties.” Kawasaki throughout the entire saga has had tremendous pressure from Dorna to stay in the racing series, and Dorna was under considerable pressure from FIM to field enough bikes to keep its “Championship” status. Both of these issues seem now solved with Kawasaki’s announcement as the minimum quota of 18 riders is now met.
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According to both Tuttosport and Sportmediaset (both members of the overly-excitable and sometime unreliable Italian press), Marco Melandri will be riding a privately run Kawasaki for 2009. In a deal brockered by Carmelo Ezpeleta, the team will be led by Michael Bartholemy. Details are somewhere between sketchy and nonexistent, but it seems that Kawasaki will make all of the 2009-spec bikes available to Bartholemy, who will field a single rider, Marco Melandri.
Finance for the project will most likely come from Dorna who want to avoid breaching their own contract with the FIM to field at least 18 riders for a world championship, with Kawasaki possibly kicking in some seed money since they don’t want to breach their contract with Dorna. Melandri would presumably be riding the 2009-spec bikes tested by Olivier Jacque in Australia during January, despite reports of poor reliability.
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According to Visordown, the 2009 Kawasaki ZX-RR was showing a serious lack of reliability during tests at Eastern Creek last week. The reliability is such an issue that Kawasaki is waiting until the end of the month, when it tests again at Phillip Island, before making a decision. If there’s any doubt then the bikes won’t find their way onto the grid, whether in factory or privateer trim.
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On Wednesday, Motorcycle News reported that Ezpeleta did not believe that Aspar would take on the responsibility of directing a private Kawasaki team, the speculation on that statement is now over as Aspar today confirmed that he would not be heading such a team, as the basic needs of his organization could not be made. As we reported earlier, the deal-breaker for Aspar was the requirement to have a Spanish rider on one of the bikes. This is because the Barcelona based team, has Spanish sponsors that need to be able to justify their advertising dollars. Another deal-breaker that came out of the talks was the fact Kawasaki’s involvement at this point in time is still short-term.
Kawasaki has committed themselves to racing in MotoGP through 2011 in a contract with Dorna. Dorna had offered Team Green a way out of that contract if the were willing to provide bikes for the 2009 season, thus keeping MotoGP’s status as a championship series in the eyes of the FIM. But Aspar et al are looking for a long-term involvement in MotoGP, thus a one-year deal would more likely hinder their long-term plans than help them. Faced with these problems, the deal fell apart, and here we are.
This leaves Michael Bartholemy, manager of the Factory Kawasaki team, as the last great hope to keeping the green bikes on the grid. From ,there is the possibility of a French company providing technical assistance in bike maintenance and development. However, now it seems more like that former MotoGP contender, British firm Ilmor, will take up this role.
The 2008 ZX-RR Ninja has a unique problem, it makes plenty of power, but has an extremely hard time getting that power down to the wheels in a way that is usable for the rider. Both John Hopkins and Anthony West complained of a lack of rear wheel traction, as well as a lack of front-end feel, making it impossible to take advantage of the Kawasaki’s potent engine. Unless Bartholemy can find someone to help him work on the chassis, then any attempt at reviving the project may be doomed before it even gets off the ground.
We sat around all of Thursday waiting for news from Japan about a possible French supplier for a privateer Kawasaki team, and we got zip, zero, nada, nothing in our inbox confirm all the speculation. However, we have seen further evidence that news should come today about such a partnership. Early indications point to a team that is Kawasaki only in name, with parts and support coming from France, and with riders from the US and Italy.
That’s right Marco and Hopper seem to be the riders, but of course at this point we’re not counting our chickens until they’ve hatched…for all we know a pair of Muppets like Burt and Earnie could be riding Kawasakis as a cost cutting measure. We’ll bring you more news when we get it.
Today is a day of waiting if your a MotoGP fan, particularly a Kawasaki MotoGP fan. With all the drama that has been surrounding the Team in Green, a meeting in Japan may define how the rest of the season shapes up. Michael Bartholemy is in Japan today for talks with Kawasaki about the level of support they can/will provide to a potential privateer team.
Support has become a major issue since Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta revealed that Kawasaki only had enough parts to see out 25% of the 2009 season, and would not be able to handle engine development or maintenance.
This issue was alleviated partially by Bartholemy announcing that he has found a French company, which could handle at least some of that support work for the racing spares. It is speculated that if he can persuade Kawasaki to hand over the entire MotoGP operation to this French company, then there is a possibility that the team could be saved.
Lastly, there is still the issue of Jorge “Aspar” Martinez, and whether he would direct and fund the operation. A have wheeled out the jump to conclusions mat on this topic, saying that he will not be involved in a Kawasaki privateer team, but the only basis for this assertion seems to be Aspar’s statement that he’d want at least one Spanish rider. To us, this issue has not come out as a deal breaker.
Really, we’re trying to think of a way that the 2009 MotoGP season could become less of a soap opera, but it continues to act like one. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, has shed some more light on the back-and-forth between his organization and Kawasaki.
“I’ve already said that I would not accept the breakdown of Kawasaki’s contract signed with us until 2011. I have proposed that they run in 2009, and in exchange, to allow them to withdraw in 2010 and 2011. They told me that they had an engine for only four or five races of the season. So I looked for a company in France able to help develop the bike. The last obstacle for the Japanese is to meet these people and accept their program.”
This meeting is scheduled for early next week, and Ezpeleta is pushing for Kawasaki to honor its contract with its riders as well as Dorna, “The team will be led by Michael Bartholemy, and I think it is important to keep the two pilots under contract, John Hopkins and Marco Melandri.” Ezpeleta finished by reiterating that he would take Kawasaki to court if it defaulted on their commitment with Dorna Sports.