Kawasaki and AMA

http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/scripts/NewsInsert.asp?insert=10704

Kawasaki stay out of FX. Want assurances about future of SBK before
committing.

Hmmm.

 

The Kawasaki was launched late last year, early this year. It's been
racing this year with success in BSB and some success in WSB. At least
one team will be racing Kawasakis in WSB next year with some help from
the factory.

And they can't have an SB ready to go for next March?

Then there's FX. Kawasaki have been a fixture in World 600ss and BSB
600ss for some years. They even won a world championship. So there are
people out there who know how to build a fast Kawa 600 engine to more or
less the same rules as FX.

And they can't have an FX bike ready by next March?

Next stop Yamaha. What's their excuse going to be?

 

I would blame the rules insofar as the AMA has made it easy to get 90% of the
recognition of racing in Superbike at 30% the cost racing in Super Stock
instead. Can't blame Kawasaki for that. I'd be inclined to do the same if I
were running a race program.

As for the "not enough time" excuse, to me it's just that... An excuse. If
Kawasaki really wanted to participate in Superbike they'd have no problem
IMO. Hell, look at Attack Kawasaki and Josh Hayes this year. They're doing
quite respectibly on what is probably 20% of what Kawasaki would spend if
they were participating. Ramp the funding up and they'd likely be
contenders.

-Chris-

 

90% ? How much TV coverage do the Superstock 1000s get?

 

Good point. The Super Stock still gets a lot of mention otherwise, though.
And strangely enough I'm more curious about those results than the SB
results.

-Chris-

 

It's very unlikely that any of the factories will run a factory
sponsored, organised, paid for team using hardware exclusively from the
factory in WSB or BSB next year with the sole exceptions of Fila-Ducati,
Foggy-Petronas and *maybe* the UK HRC team. Does this matter when Ten
Kate Honda, Rizla-Suzuki, Renegade Ducati, Hawk Kawasaki, PSG1-Ducati,
Virgin-Yamaha all got podiums, race wins and championships this year?

Just so I can understand the terminology. Do you think the old WSB
Kawasaki team run by Harald Eckl with people like Walker and Yanagawa up
was "Factory"? Because they were a private team, organising their own
finances, doing their own development. Not so different from
Rizla-Suzuki. There's a chance that there'll be at least two teams in
WSB running Kawasakis on this sort of basis.

Yes, I agree, it's unlikely that Kawasaki Japan will do any R&D on the
ZX10R for racing unless they decide to have a serious go at the Suzuka 8
hours or the AAJR. And with both those in decline it's unlikely.

And if a ZX10R wins anything, you can be sure that the local importers
will be using it in local advertising.

There's a certain irony here. If the magazine reviews are to be believed
(I haven't ridden one) the ZX10 is the most extreme, racetrack focussed
of this year's crop of top sport bikes. It ought to make a great
platform for racing. Why make it the ultimate track day bike and then
not race it?

 

SuperStock gets paraded in factory ads, just like all of the other series,
but in a typical "race weekend" where everything is tape delayed, they'll
get 1/2 hour of TV (combined with the FX race) compared to 2 hrs for SB (2,
1 hour races) and 1 hour for SuperSport (even though it's the same length as
FX and SStock).

Regards,

Will Hartung
()

 

In my opinion the picture isn't that clear. This winter they introduce the
tird 600 in three years. No, their not involved directly in ss600 but the do
deliver machines, now at the end of the season even to WSS wildcards. That's
not an insignificant development effort in my eyes. Still, I wonder what
they want with that effort without a more factory support at the tracks.

Well, last year was a total disatser, this year a little less disaster. Just
now they seem to catch up with the rest but still with engines that have som
major design flaws and very far from a reliable top contender. But again
that might change next year as they copy Honda.

/MBE

 

Evidence? I'm not sure I believe that. Are you talking production or
production based? And World, National or Club racing?

 

We all have to move on and not look back *too* much. I'm trying to
remember exactly when WSB, BSB and AMA went to more or less the current
1000-4 formula. I said before that I thought the machine specs were now
about right and you shot me down. But I still believe it. What they've
all got now is a real racing formula that potentially pits the flag ship
bike from every factory on more or less equal terms. The challenge for
Flammini and the AMA is to convince all the factories to compete or to
convince well funded teams to compete with a bike from all the
factories.

Now ever since Soichiro Honda went to the IoM and Suzuki and Yamaha
joined him, the Japanese factories have raced. And I don't think it's
just about money, it's also about corporate pride. And also because I
think they love racing just as much as we love watching them. Kawasaki
has always been the odd one out here that comes and goes, often with a
low budget, small, or contracted out team.

As for Yamaha in BSB, Rob Mac runs a great team that puts on a very
professional show on a tight budget. But although the team had loads of
success and championships with the OW31 and R7, they've struggled with
the R1. They've also struggled with finding championship winning riders
who were prepared to develop it. Hislop should have been one of them,
but ended as a Ducati specialist. Plater's a great guy but limited.
Mason hasn't grown into what he promised. For all that they've had
podiums and wins and as high as 3rd in the championship.

What's curious about this is that the R1 makes a great Superstock
platform. It's also been turned into a championship winning endurance
bike. But nobody world wide has managed to get the bike, team and rider
together to show what it's potential might be in WSB. If the rumours pan
out and we get Moto Italia running Haga and Van De Goorberg in WSB next
year maybe we'll see.

 

But sadly only 2000 people in them.

 

What "general trend in (professional production-based) racing in that
direction."? I don't see it. Or do you mean the general trend of the
AMA? Or are you saying that *if* production based racing world wide
moved to middleweights, the AMA would follow? But when did the AMA ever
change their rules to match the world equivalents?