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Kawasaki Back Testing for 2009 MotoGP

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Reports are showing that Kawasaki is about to resume its testing, with Olivier Jacque taking laps at Phillip Island on the 2009 ZX-RR. The French rider is at the Eastern Creek circuit near Sydney for a test on the ZX-RR, which was being developed for John Hopkins and Marco Melandri for the 2009 season. Jacque will be testing an all new in-line four-cylinder motor and revised chassis at the Eastern Creek test, starting this Saturday.

After Eastern Creek, the test team will then move down to the Phillip Island for further testing and development. This news and commitment from Kawasaki adds further credence to the reports that we will see them, in some form or another, on the grid during the 2009 season. Kawasaki MotoGP manager, Michael Bartholemy, has been strongly linked with the rescue package, though he has yet to make any official comment on the future plans of Kawasaki and its withdrawal late last year.

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How Much Does it Cost to Race in MotoGP?

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MotoGP is a special animal. Like how Formula 1 is for automobiles, MotoGP is supposed to embody what the cutting edge of technology can bring to the sport of motorcycling. The talent is the pinnacle of its field, and the bikes are rolling R&D platforms.

This also means of course that the costs are exuberant, and instead of an instant applicable payoffs, the value of racing instead comes down the road many years later as the technology trickles down to the production-level bikes.

This makes MotoGP unlike the racing other series, whereas in World Superbike for instance, teams are working with a bike that is actually sold en masse to the consumer, costs for product line development can be absorbed, and the fabled “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday” marketing buzz phrase has some bearing on reality.

Because of the intangible returns on investments, and escalating environment of prototype racing, it is not surprising to see the semi-departure of Kawasaki for 2009. So how much money are teams really losing by racing at the top of the sport?

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Privateers Pick-up Where Kawasaki Leaves Off

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UPDATE: It looks like Alex Debon could be the Spanish rider that Jorge Martinez could tap to be one of his MotoGP riders.

You would think that Kawasaki’s announcement to leave MotoGP put’s to rest whether or not they will be racing next year in MotoGP, but you’d be wrong….at least sort of wrong. There has been if someone else would come along and direct/finance a Kawi MotoGP effort, and many people have pointed that finger at Jorge “Aspar” Martinez. That rumor would appear to have gained new credence today with the latest comment from Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta, continuing reading for more.

 

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Kawasaki Officially Pulls out of MotoGP

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Straight from the horses mouth, and about 5 days later than we expected…It’s the rumor everyone already knew was truth…at least they bothered releasing a press release. Kawasaki has officially announced their leaving of MotoGP for the 2009 season.

 

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that it has decided to suspend its factory MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season.

Amid quickly changing business environment, Kawasaki has been promptly taking countermeasures to cope with the situation. As the world economy is not likely to recover in a short period due to the major impact of the financial crisis, Kawasaki decided to suspend its MotoGP racing activities from 2009 season onward and reallocate management resources more efficiently.

Kawasaki will continue racing activities using mass-produced motorcycles as well as supporting general race-oriented customers.

Kawasaki would like to thank all the fans and all those who have forwarded us great help.

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Honda Says No to Melandri, Dorna Holds Kawasaki to Contract

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Avenues to ride in MotoGP for the 2009 season are becoming dead-ends for Marco Melandri. In case you haven’t read A&R the last few weeks, Kawasaki’s pull-out from MotoGP has sent the young Italian scrambling for a ride this coming season, with his latest stop being in the Honda camp.

Lucio Cecchinello, manager for LCR Honda, admits to having been approached by friends of Melandri to see if the team would be interested in sponsoring a second bike alongside Randy de Puniet.

Negative Ghost Rider, the pattern is full.

Employing the classic “It’s not you, it’s me” line, the LCR boss issued the statement: “I was asked by the manager of Melandri to run in 2009, but this will not happen for the following reasons,” said Lucio. “First, we can not afford to include a second driver. The current economic situation does not allow us to consider an investor can pay Melandri, especially given his last season. ” 

“Secondly, even if I talked to Honda, I am almost certain they would be against the idea of providing a new motorcycle. This would HRC to new engines, to invest in new parts and another crew. We are in a period where Honda wants to save rather than spend even more money. Finally, it is too late to hire staff and new mechanics. There is therefore no chance to see Melandri join my team. ” 

There is still some speculation that a white knight might step in to take over the Factory Kawasaki effort, this possibility earned further credence today as Carmelo Ezpeleta from Dorna released the fact that Kawasaki has a signed contract to run in MotoGP until 2011. 

Ezpeleta stated that “Once they [Kawasaki] informed me of their desire to stop, I began negotiations with them, arguing the contract they had signed and I asked them to reconsider their best decision, or at worst of postponing…The possibility of two Kawasaki on the grid in 2009, in one form or another, can not be ruled out. They signed a contract and a contract can not be ignored in a day.”

Get the popcorn folks, its only going to get more interesting from here on out.

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The Curious Case of Marco and Hopper

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The dust has settled, and the boys in green are officially out of MotoGP. With Kawasaki withdrawing from MotoGP just a few months after the end of the 2008 season, there are few, if any, opportunities for Marco Melandri and John Hopkins in motorcycle racing. Typically by January all teams are well settled on their plans for the coming season, and the addition/replacement of a new rider is almost entirely out of the question. With MotoGP out of the realm of possibilities, what options are there for these two rider? Continue reading after the jump to find out.

 

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Phillip Island: John Hopkins Goes to Surgery Immediately After Testing Finishes

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Kawasaki concluded their testing at Phillip Island before the winter break today, after which John Hopkins headed almost immediately to the hospital to have surgery performed on his leg.

Hopper had been experiencing pain ever since the surgery performed after his crash in Assen early in the 2008 season. Toughing it out, Hopkins showed determination to get this last week’s worth of testing in:

“Today was more positive for me. The injuries weren’t such a big problem, although I had to adapt because I still can’t put any pressure on the left footpeg…we found a pretty good setup on the bike, and my lap times were pretty consistent over the long runs we did for Bridgestone, and it’s this consistency that’s important to our development program right now.”

Hopper clocked in 1’32.1 lap today, about a second off his qualifying time at Phillip Island earlier this year.

Even though MotoGP is such a high profile sport, it is understated how often MotoGP riders become injured during the racing season (Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo also had notable injuries during 2008), and how often  they ride on Sunday’s races with aliments and pains that would leave most of us weekend racers sitting on the couch with a cold one in hand, watching the races instead.

Hopkins plans to take it easy after the surgery, make a full-recovery, and then “train [his] butt off ready for the new season”.

Source: MotoGP; Photo: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images

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KawasakiTV

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Kawasaki has huffed the same crazy glue as BMW, and gotten themselves a video portal aptly named: KawasakiTV. Now while the BMW version has all the spit and polish you’d expect from the German AutoHaas, Kawasaki has all the lack-luster half-assed marketing attempts we’ve grown to cheerish from the Green Monster. The shows all of its ads, clips, and racing footage going back to 2006, although after playing with it for a bit, they appear to show you only a limited number of ads at random. Also, the site, for whatever reason, is in Spanish, but it’s easy enough to navigate around. The link can be found here.

On a marketing note. Kawasaki, why would you host a site on someone else’s domain? Why would you try and shoe-horn your logo onto a template that clearly is from a common bin. And lastly, who is your brand manager, and what street will he be committing ritual suicide over this botch job?

Source: moto.caradisiac

Wow, I can’t believe I got through this post without one reference to letting the good times roll…

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Anthony West We Hardly Knew Thee

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In 2007 Anthony West replace Jaques Olivier on the Factory Kawasaki MotoGP team. After this Sunday at Valencia, Anthony’s year and a half will end. West has had a lackluster season this year, currently sitting 18th in the point standings with 50 points, which has caused many to call for his replacement. Italian Marco Melandri will join John Hopkins on the Kawasaki team for the 2009 season as West’s replacement.

 

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