Kawasaki WSBK 2012

[MadKaw]

Kawasaki WSBK Plans Take A New Direction For 2012
Newsflash, 6 September 2011
Underlining a commitment to the internationally recognised World Superbike Championship, Kawasaki has announced a continued participation in the popular series in 2012. Focusing on the further development and race winning potential of the new Ninja ZX-10R, the company has decided to exercise a greater degree of control over the engineering and structured development of the flagship machine for the 2012 season.

Having worked closely with the Cumbrian based team of Paul Bird Motorsport for the past three years, the relationship for the WSB effort will draw to a close at the end of the 2011 season. Kawasaki praised the efforts of PBM and all those team members and riders involved during in that time via Race Manager, Ichiro Yoda, who said:

“We have enjoyed three valuable years alongside the Paul Bird Motorsport team and would like to put on record our sincere thanks for the time, effort and dedication they have shown to the Kawasaki World Superbike racing programme.

“The direction of our World Superbike effort from 2012 moves to even closer control from our HQ where decisions will be made back in Japan next year. There are plans for much more testing in the future and so from a European logistical perspective Kawasaki’s WSB operating base will need to be close to the best circuits and good weather conditions, for practical reasons. Additionally, this new situation must also match the budget constraints that the company has to operate within.

“Understandably, it is a considerable challenge to develop a brand new machine into a potential race winner whilst competing in the public arena, and we applaud the efforts of all those who have contributed towards getting us to our current position. We hope that everyone with an interest in the World Superbike Championship will look forward to seeing Kawasaki on the grid once more in 2012”.

[stetto]

Awesome, proper factory team next year

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[laidback]

Will be interesting...any mention of riders yet?

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[Jonno]

Will be interesting...any mention of riders yet?

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[stetto]

Clever

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[Griffo]

If it puts the Green Machines closer to the front of the pack then i'm all for it so long as it doesn't go by way of the Kawasaki MotoGP effort. I feel sorry for PBM as they took the risk with a brand new machine and towards the end of the year you can see the improvements thanks to Aitcho and Sykes. Different teams i know but still. Just hope PBM can still run a Green Machine and get factory support. They should get something for the development work they've done!

[fezzick]

PBM paid the penalty for the drugs scandal. Japanese factories don't like you doing things that cause them to lose face.

[Jonnymac]

What drugs scandal

[stetto]

one of their trucks got done for drugs like 6 months back

[Six Addict]

yeah shite loads of weed after they left the assen round

[born green]

Yer the drug bust didnt look good, but i dont think the team as such had anything to with it,paul bird is a very wealthy man, so why would he get involed in something like that? maybe a driver acting alone?? there was a artical about it in two wheels about 2 months ago. And i argree about giving paul bird a go, i think he has done a good job so far. But i read somewhere that kawasaki doesnt want tom sykes, he was signed by paul himself, so go figure that one out!!!

[fezzick]

I don't think PBM had anything to do with the drugs either, but the Japanese are VERY toey about bad press; I am sure that it influenced their decision.