With Aprilia and Suzuki both back in MotoGP and KTM set to contest the championship in 2017 hopes were high that Kawasaki would put an oar in the water, but that is not to be.
“Even though seeing Kawasaki making a move towards MotoGP once more seems like a natural one, it looks like there is much more to it than meets the eye. Akashi is not THAT eager to spend tens of millions on the MotoGP program, and below you can find out why.” So says autoevolution.com,
quoting the factory’s Ichiro Yoda as explaining that the costs of being truly competitive in MotoGP are just too high and the rewards not great enough to justify the expense. MotoGP owners Dorna appear to be a particular fly in the ointment, he says, and the current rules are too restrictive for new entries or the return of established manufacturers who’ve left the sport; a change of heart on their part would be necessary before Team Green returned to the grid. Kawasaki is enjoying huge success in the World Superbike and Supersport series, so that’s where they’ll be staying for the foreseeable future.
by Gavin Foster.