Kawasaki returns to MotoGP through the back door !

Twist: on the eve of the last winter testing in Qatar, Kawasaki created the event by finally announcing its presence on the MotoGP grid in 2009, but in a new team articulated around the only Marco Melandri… Explanations.

After having scathingly exposed his desire to leave the premier class this winter (read), Kawasaki would have been kindly asked by the Dorna (promoter of MotoGP) to find a solution allowing to enter at least one ZX RR 2009 on the grid MotoGP 2009.

Contacted by Site, the team manager of the official team, Michael Bartholemy, then confirmed the contacts between the factory and various structures interested in running one or more riders on re-badged Kawasaki, for which the factory would not have had only to ensure the supply of parts…

In turn, Jorge Martinez (team manager of Mike di Meglio’s team in 250), the former British team Illmor (present in MotoGP in 2007 with the X3), then the French Jean-Christophe Ponsson of Gil Motorsport ( former Kawasaki structure in World Supersport), however, encountered polite refusals to cooperate, to the chagrin of Dorna which did not hesitate to shake up the contractual clause binding Kawasaki to the promoter until the end of 2011…

To everyone’s surprise, the Greens have just announced their intention to participate in the 2009 championship but with only one machine, piloted by Marco Melandri – what about the unfortunate John Hopkins? – and unofficially managed by Kawasaki…

This real mess raises a lot of questions that no one seems to be able to answer right now, but Japanese leaders assume: "Kawasaki announces that following constructive discussions between Kawasaki, Dorna and the other parties involved, a new single rider team will take part in the 2009 MotoGP Championship season", indicates the manufacturer before specifying that the team will be equipped with ZX-RR and the necessary operating equipment…

Promising more details to come on the composition of this "new team", the Greens also specify that this decision has a direct relationship with the "sharp reduction in investments in MotoGP competition"obtained thanks to the measures put in place by the Grand Prix commission (read).

Melandri "In", Gibernau "Out"

It now remains to discover the real potential of the ZX-RR 2009 – necessarily late in development against the competition – in the hands of a very lonely Marco Melandri and himself handicapped by a serious lack of testing…

First elements of answers during the tests of Qatar which start on Sunday and for which the Spaniard Sete Gibernau (Ducati) has just withdrawn: the Spaniard suffers from an old shoulder injury which would have arisen following the efforts made during of the last tests in Malaysia … His training program thus caused a slight rupture of a ligament in his left shoulder, requiring a rest to recover.

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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