As the bedrock of Kawasaki’s approach to WorldSBK, the Ninja ZX-10RR has been through many stages of development, first as simple ZX-10R and now with its RR status.

Homologated as a base machine for World Superbike racing, the ZX-10RR is the brainchild of KHI’s Yoshimoto Matsuda who specified such things as a modified cylinder head to suit high-lift racing camshafts, DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coated low friction tappets and reinforced high-rigidity crankcases.

Changing the core DNA of the Ninja from one season to the next to reflect factory development and also changes to the requirements of KRT and its riders, Matsuda has overseen many iterations of the ZX-10R concept. Now, with the 2018 ZX-10RR he and KRT face perhaps their greatest challenge yet.

As part of a plan to create parity between teams and manufacturers for 2018 the peak engine revs of many machines has been reduced. As winners three years in a row, Kawasaki find themselves in the unenviable position of being at the greatest disadvantage with over 1000rpm of peak revs denied to the rev hungry litre class Ninja.

Whilst not agreeing with the new regulations, Matsuda has vowed to keep the ZX-10RR competitive and, like fans around the world, would be delighted to see either Jonathan Rea or Tom Sykes take the championship at year end – especially in the face of such punitive adversity.

In historical terms, the ZX-10R reached a new career zenith in 2013 when Tom Sykes and the Kawasaki Racing Team won the SBK championship. During that year the Ninja ZX-10R was the bike to have in WorldSBK, achieving ten victories over fourteen hard fought rounds of racing. Season champion Sykes proved a multiple winner and teammate Loris Baz also mounted the top step of the podium on one occasion.

Come the 2014 season and the litre class Ninja placed Tom Sykes second in the SBK Riders’ championship, delivering eight race wins for the gritty Yorkshireman. In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup the Ninja came close to winning the title also.

Rea’s championship win in 2015 delivered total domination and with the two official KRT machines inside the top three finishing places, the bike proved versatile in the extreme.

The 1-2 result in 2016 for Rea and Sykes on the all-new Ninja enhanced the reputation of the ZX-10R, while podium success also followed the path of the new bike into the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup class. Cut to 2017 and Rea delivered a stunning third championship in a row cementing his relationship with the mighty Ninja and securing his place among the Superbike elite.

Continuing to 2018 and 2019, Rea dominated once again bringing his and KRT's tally to 5 successive championship wins. 

Established as a middleweight Supersport icon for road riders, the Ninja ZX-6R has an enviable track record. With three recent world championships to its name the Ninja ZX-6R has proved to be the bike to beat both in the era of near-Superbike levels of electronic rider aids and more recently, with far more stock machine specifications and electronics packages.

As well as taking three WorldSSP Manufacturers’ crowns (2013, 2015 and 2016) plus three world titles in the riders’ championship the Ninja ZX-6R won all of the last three Superstock 600 European Championship series it competed in, before the class was dropped from the paddock for 2016.

For many who follow the Supersport category mention of the Ninja ZX-6R almost always includes Kenan Sofuoglu in the same breath. Synonymous with the Kawasaki brand thanks to his loyalty to the Puccetti Racing Team, the mercurial Turkish pilot has forged a man-machine partnership that few, if any, can rival. Looking for yet another crown in 2018, Kenan is joined on the grid by Hikari Okubo in Manuel Puccetti’s official Kawasaki team on a grid that also features four other Ninja mounted riders including the irrepressible former Kawasaki MotoGP rider, Anthony West.

Date Of Birth: 2 February 1987

Birth Place: Dunandry

Hometown: Castletown

Race Number: #1

World Champion, 2015, 2016, 2017. 2018, 2019, 2020. 

In 2015 Jonathan Rea, or ’JR’ as he is widely known, proved to be almost the most dominant champion in the history of the category. In 2016, on a new model, he resisted even greater title challenges but still came out on top. In 2017, on another updated and sharpened version of the Ninja ZX-10R Rea made WorldSBK history with three titles in a row. His success has continued apace, taking championship wins every year since 2015, with almost 100 race victories earned before the start of the 2021 season. Now a six-time champion - a truly unprecedented status to hold - Rea approaches the new season just as hungry for success as he ever was looking for a seventh title.

The talents of former junior motocross champion Rea were evident from an early age and he made the jump to roadracing in 2003. Riding in British Supersport earned his ride in the British Superbike Championship, becoming the youngest rider to score a pole position in this prestigious national championship, in 2005.

He became runner-up in the 2007 BSB title but by then his gaze alighted on the WSB paddock - and the FIM Supersport World Championship class in particular.

Runner-up in the WSS class in 2008 he made the leap to WorldSBK racing even before the end of that season. As soon as his chances of winning the Supersport title were gone he took over a Superbike ride with his team in the final round in Portugal, scoring points and impressing all with his pace.

His rookie World SBK season saw him finish inside the top five, with two wins mixed into his total of eight podiums. A top result for a first season rider and a new star was born inside the SBK paddock. From 2009 until the end of 2014 Rea proved to be the top Honda rider in the SBK championship.

In 2010 he went one better in terms of championship results and posted four wins, a single season total that he would not match again until 2014. He was on course for a top three finish until he was injured with two 

rounds to go. In 2011 he placed ninth after a pre-season injury affected his start and then a mid-season fall caused him to miss too much of the season, meaning he finished an artificially low ninth overall. Despite his injury problems he still won two races.

Four race wins in 2012 saw Jonathan fifth in the title chase but bad luck with injury was to return in 2013. A crash at the German round, on an oil spill, broke his femur and finished his season. He ended up ninth overall and kept up his record of winning at least one race every season since he joined SBK full-time. That record was added to in 2014, as he rode to third place in the championship overall, his best ever overall finish to that point, with four race wins to make a career total of 15 before the start of the 2015 season, his first with Kawasaki.

His astounding 2015 included 14 wins in his haul of 23 podium finishes, and a championship win that was sewn up long before the end of the racing year.

In 2016 Rea was a clear champion in his second Kawasaki year scoring nine race wins, almost reaching the magic 500 points barrier once again.

After such a start to his Kawasaki career the possibility of another title was a real one in 2017, but his achievements on the Ninja ZX-10R exceeded his wildest dreams as he made history, and in a number of ways.

For 2018 Rea once more proved to be the class of the field on the potent Ninja ZX-10RR taking his fourth title to match his fellow British rider Carl Fogarty’s record championship total. Even Fogarty, however, had not quite managed to win his four titles in succession.

On a heavily revamped 2019 Ninja ZX-10RR, which was brought in to maximise engine performance after rule changes arrived for the previous season, Rea’s supremacy was truly challenged at the beginning. Over the full year, however, Jonathan, KRT and the newest Kawasaki overcame all comers. He took the championship lead at his home round at Donington Park and then went on to win the championship by a clear 165 points. Five titles in a row for rider, team and manufacturer - WorldSBK really had seen nothing like it.

Last year the triumvirate of Rea, KRT and Kawasaki faced a whole new challenge. They overcame all the risks and restrictions inherent in racing for a world championship during a global pandemic with Riders’ and Manufacturers’ championships secured in what was an eight round/24 race season. A new landscape in almost every possible way yet again Rea overcame every hurdle to score his sixth straight title. In 2021, on an improved Ninja ZX-10RR, anything seems possible again for the most successful WorldSBK rider of all time.

Date Of Birth: 14 September 1990

Birth Place: Lincoln, England

Hometown: Loughborough

Race Number: #22

Now entering his second season as regular part of the KRT WorldSBK squad, Englishman Alex Lowes proved to be a winner in his first ever race weekend for the official KHI team in 2020. 

Having finished the 2019 WorldSBK season in third place overall - recording the best championship ranking of his career to date - Alex Lowes was a tempting choice for the official KRT squad to be part of the factory rider line up ahead of another new campaign.

Lowes secured his status of third in the championship in 2019 at the very last round, showing a cool head and big heart again when it mattered most. Not so surprising for a former British Superbike champion and a three-time winner of the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours EWC race.

The twin brother of former WorldSSP champion and Moto2 race winner Sam, Alex Lowes started out road racing in the JRA Championship in his native Britain. In 2003 he took part in the one-make Superteen championship, which at that time was seen as a hotbed for developing young British talent.

After a season of club racing in 2004 the British 125cc championship beckoned in 2005 and 2006. With almost every race class becoming a four-stroke formula at this stage Lowes took in a season of British Supersport 600 racing in 2007 before an ambitious move into international competition.

One year in the Superstock 600 Championship and the next in the Superstock 1000 Championship – European-based support classes at the time inside the WorldSBK paddock - gave Alex valuable experience that he took into the British Supersport championship in 2010. That same season he also had his first BSB experiences before taking part in three successive national Superbike championships between 2011 and 2013.

Finishing first 20th, then fourth and finally champion, Lowes proved all he could on the national scene before returning to the Superbike World Championship, this time as a full-time rider inside the official Suzuki team.

His first WorldSBK podiums occurred in the 2014 and 2015 campaigns; initially at well-known circuits for Alex like Assen and Donington, then at the new venue of Buriram in Thailand.

A change of manufacturer saw Lowes compete for four years in Yamaha colours, scoring a further 17 podiums, including his breakthrough win at Brno in 2018. He even enjoyed two MotoGP race experiences in 2016, scoring points in one race.

As well as his increasing WorldSBK abilities Lowes has also proven himself a true star in the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hour race, having won it three times in succession from 2016 onwards.

A season-best tally of nine WorldSBK podiums in 2019, added to his career-best third place overall making Alex an understandable choice for Kawasaki’s official effort in

the 2020 season. Winning the final race of the opening WorldSBK weekend at Phillip Island, Lowes left Australia with a championship lead that would last for some time as the race season was suspended for many months due to the global pandemic.

Finally scoring one race win and four podiums last season Lowes finished up sixth in the championship table. Lowes is determined to build on his 2020 experiences aboard the even more potent new Ninja ZX-10RR for 2021 and compete for more victories inside the most successful contemporary WorldSBK set-up there is.

A great team thrives on big suppliers and sponsors. This is the company that has joined us on this venture as our top sponsor. We would like to extend our thanks to them for believing in our team and for sharing in our experiences and achievements.

These are the companies that have joined us in our race to the top. To them we are a good R & D and advertising platform with huge synergies. We look forward to achieving great results with them this season.

Pedercini Racing is the World Superbike and World Supersport Team who can boast the longest sporting career. Pedercini Racing Team, lead by Lucio Pedercini, has been partecipating to World Superbike since 1993, and from that year on, has never missed a single round of the Championship. A team which is proud to partecipate to the most challenging championship in the world of motorsports.

Team Pedercini was born as a family-run team, and from this experience Pedercini Racing Team keeps the enthusiasm, the values, and the passion to search for new talents to lead to success.

Date of Birth: 27 August 1987

Birthplace: Terrassa

Race number: #81

Class: WSBK

Date of Birth: 9 July 2001

Birthplace: Wellington

Race number: #71

Date of Birth: 2 February 2001

Birthplace: Gallarate

Race number: #27

Date of Birth: 10 March 1997

Birthplace: Murcia

Race number: #22

MTM Kawasaki Motoport Racing is a racing team that competes in the World Supersport 300 class. The team is officially supported by Kawasaki Europe. 

With many years competing at World Championship level, MTM are back again for 2020.

Class: WSS300

Date of Birth: 27 December 2001

Birthplace: Meppel

Race number: #69

Riding Number: 95

Class: WSS300

Date of birth: 23 December 1995

Place of birth: NIJKERKERVEEN

Class: WSS300

Date of Birth: 17 September 1994

Birthplace: Someren

Race number: #17

Riding Number: 61

Class: WSS300

Date of birth: 12 July 1999

Place of birth: TOKIO

A great team thrives on big suppliers and sponsors. This is the company that has joined us on this venture as our top sponsor. We would like to extend our thanks to them for believing in our team and for sharing in our experiences and achievements.

These are the companies that have joined us in our race to the top. To them we are a good R & D and advertising platform with huge synergies. We look forward to achieving great results with them this season.

We would like to thank our technical sponsors for supporting our team in our efforts this season.

The Kawasaki KX450F–SR is the pinnacle of Kawasaki’s four-stroke motocross GP technology, with class and race-leading power delivery controlled by state of the art suspension and lightweight high-tech chassis components. Developed over a number of seasons by technicians from the Japanese factory’s Akashi race department and the KRT base in Europe, the ‘SR’ model still retains many of the outstanding engine and chassis qualities of the standard KX450F machine available from any Kawasaki off-road dealer.

The bike is raced in the top flight MXGP class, against other 450cc four stroke machines. Utilising the latest generation Showa suspension, the machine can be set-up to offer the best bump absorption and stability in the varied terrain experienced by riders across the extensive global MXGP calendar. In 2018 the KX450F–SR is campaigned by Belgian’s Clement Desalle and Julien Lieber under the KRT banner.

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