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Kawasaki to withdraw from MotoGP?
These are not happy days for Japanese motorsport fans. Following Honda's withdrawal from Formula One and Suzuki and Subaru's dual withdrawals from the World Rally Championship come reports that Kawasaki is pulling out of MotoGP.
The Japanese motorcycle manufacturer entered the premier two-wheel racing series in 2003 with hopes to take top honors, but in its five seasons of competition, it has failed to record a single victory. The factory team had hoped to make a go of it with a pair of new riders and their new ZZ-XR racing bike, but hard times mean that it's time to call it quits. Confirmation of Kawasaki's decision is expected to come on January 5, leaving MotoGP in an even tougher spot as it watches rival series World Superbike Championship gain BMW and Aprilia.
[Source: Autosport]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mino 11:06AM (12/31/2008)
Honda also withdrawing from AMA was huge, in the same league as Subaru leaving WRC, if not more so.
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Freak Mojo 11:11AM (12/31/2008)
I agree that the Honda deal was pretty substantial, especially with the success they had in those series. But Kawasaki wasn't exactly leading any charges in MotoGP.
And this looks like it's going to be a good year to get back into watching World Superbike. With Ben Spies joining the fray and BMW's new bike in the mix, it should be quite exciting.
Where's the dead pool for NASCAR?
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Rocketboy 11:18AM (12/31/2008)
So, they are taking their ball and going home because they can't win?
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geo.stewart 11:39AM (12/31/2008)
Gee,
Am I the only one that knows Kawasaki is a US company, started in the 60's?
I mean really.
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Doug 11:56AM (12/31/2008)
Actually, that's not true at all. What was started in the 60's was a DISTRIBUTION network only. They imported bikes from Japan and renamed them Omegas for a number of years, before switching to the Kawasaki name. The motorcycle division is owned by Kawasaki Heavy, which is a Japanese company based in Kobe and Tokyo.
geo.stewart 3:29PM (12/31/2008)
fair enough. I stand corrected.
just always knew them as a US company, even as Kawasaki Motors Corp USA from the early days
vampire 12:02PM (12/31/2008)
just found out that this Kawasaki is officially out of MotoGP from HellForLeatherMagazine:
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2008/12/official-kawasaki-quits-motogp.html
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Mobius_1 12:40PM (12/31/2008)
Actually, this gives me an idea, with so few participants in all sorts of racing, why not merge them all and let them battle it out? That would be fun. :P
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Soccer Mom 1:04PM (12/31/2008)
I never understood the need for 4 Big Japs. To me, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha is pretty much the same thing with different brand colors. Chevy and Pontiac. Remove any two of them, it nothing will change.
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f650 2:12PM (12/31/2008)
You do realize they're all different companies, right? That's like saying sony TVs are pretty good, so they should be the only one allowed to make them.
You're an idiot.
IOMTT 2:19PM (12/31/2008)
That is quite an inaccurate assessment of the situation. If you actually were familiar with each manufacturer's machines, you would see quite a lot of differences.
Mino 2:28PM (12/31/2008)
lol....what're you doing here on autoblog just leave and browse some other website. There's internet sites catered to morons with your mindset.
IOMTT 2:23PM (12/31/2008)
Maybe WSBK is going to return to it's glory years when it was more popular than the GPs. WSBK will have 7 factories in the fray and many riders that will be in Moto GP or have been there already. Excepting the AMA/DMG debacle, it should be an awesome 2 wheeled racing season!
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Nighthawks 11:27PM (1/01/2009)
Sadly for Kawasaki, but I hope that Harley Davidson will bring back MV-Agusta to the VM for motorcycles the MOTO-GP
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