Kawasaki Captures Superbike World Series Title

Tokyo, October 17, 2016 – Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced that its factory racing team, the “Kawasaki Racing Team” has secured the Superbike World Championship^*1 Series Title at Round 12, held at the Jerez Circuit in Spain on October 15 and 16.

The Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea has maintained 1st place in the championship, with 462 points in total on his Ninja ZX-10R. In doing so he opened a 67 point gap to Ducati’s top-ranked rider, 3rd-placed Chaz Davies, securing the title for Kawasaki before the final round. His teammate Tom Sykes, also of the Kawasaki Racing Team, looks set to secure 2nd place in the championship. He will be aiming to maintain the gap to Davies and secure a Kawasaki 1-2 finish for the season during the final round in Qatar, set to be held on October 29 and 30. Also at the Jerez round, Kawasaki has attained 542 of the points awarded to manufacturers, which is enough to secure the Manufacturer’s Title.

In the FIM Supersport World Championship^*2, which is run alongside the FIM Superbike World Championship, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Team’s Kenan Sofuoglu became the Series Champion aboard his Ninja ZX-6R. Combined with the points that his teammate Randy Krummenacher and other Kawasaki riders have scored, Kawasaki captured the Manufacturer’s Title in this series as well.
Kawasaki accomplished the same feat last season, taking Rider’s and Manufacturer’s Titles in both championships, highlighting the excellence of Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ products.

Outline of the Ninja ZX-10R and Ninja ZX-6R

The Ninja ZX-10R and Ninja ZX-6R are motorcycles that are considered “race replicas,” one of the most radical categories of motorcycles. They were designed and developed with the goal of winning in their respective classes. Their spartan designs, which do away with anything superfluous to winning, are their appeal.

	*1		The Superbike World Championship is production-model road racing’s pinnacle series, and is recognised by the FIM (International Motorcycle Federation). It holds races at circuits throughout the world, with a strong focus in Europe. The motorcycles used for competition must be road-going production models featuring 4-stroke 2-cylinder engines below 1200cc or 3- and 4-cylinder engines below 1000cc. Modifications to the machines are limited so that races are held between machines with specifications similar to those of their road-going counterparts. This has made the series popular as fans are able to judge the relative performance of the production model on which each race machine is based.
	*2		The Supersport World Championship is similar to the Superbike World Championship in that it is production-based racing. The machines used are also required to be based on road-going production models, with 4-stroke, 4-cylinder engines below 600cc, 3-cylinder engines below 675cc or 2-cylinder engines below 750cc. Modifications are more severely restricted than in World Superbike.