Alex Lowes in the Kawasaki Box – Jonathan Rea’s first teammate, who like Tom Sykes has been at his side for more than one season. The twin brother of Moto2 ace Sam should not be underestimated and he is definitely one of the podium favorites for the season opener in Aragon on the penultimate weekend of May 2021 (© Kawasaki Racing Team).

Team introduction before the start of the season with part 1 – Kawasaki

There is more than one reason why Kawasaki is so successful in WorldSBK. Just like with Jonathan Rea, his former team-mate Max Neukirchner says quite clearly that his success has several fathers. The entire interview with the best German in WSBK history for the coming season can be found on this page under “Interviews + TV”. Anyone who claims that success fell into the lap of the Northern Irishman and his team has not long been an observer of WorldSBK. Likewise, if someone thinks they sit back after a successful preparation or their successes, they are completely wrong. Because that is exactly why the team stationed in Granollers in the immediate vicinity of the Circuito de Cataluña is so successful that they never do exactly that. According to team manager Guim Roda, this is their key to success. Always taking one step more than your opponents and never being satisfied with what you have achieved.

Jonathan Rea with Pere Riba in the Kawasaki box – here a recording from 2016 in Losail. The two get on blindly and with the former Superbike pilot in the pits as crew chief, the Northern Irishman has a person at his side who always knows exactly what he needs and when (© Kawasaki Racing Team).

The rise of the Greens began with the young man from Huddersfield
If you don’t know Tom Sykes, you’ve missed something very important in motorsport. After Troy Corser’s resignation, the Englishman inherited his title as “Mister Superpole”, an absolute specialist in so-called chaos laps. With his driving style alone, Sykes is an inimitable figure. In addition, he appears at interviews and after the races in a relaxed atmosphere. As a rule, not a single eye remains dry with this joker. The driver from the Yorkshire area had already delivered a first taste of his skills in 2008 when he finished 2nd in a wildcard on Suzuki in Donington Park. The following year he joined WorldSBK for Yamaha for his first full season.

The two main protagonists of the WSBK season 2009, when the two rookies Sykes and Rea drove their first season – link with Ben Spies (Yamaha) also a newcomer and with him on the podium “Nitro Nori” Haga. The Japanese is considered the best rider ever, who never won a title in the Superbike World Championship.

Not an easy entry into WorldSBK
It was a tough start for Sykes because his team-mate Ben Spies dominated the action almost at will on the new tracks for him, while the Englishman had to make do with 9th place in the World Cup. At the same time, with Jonathan Rea on Ten Kate Honda, another rookie was significantly more successful than him with fifth place in the world championship. In addition, the Northern Irishman had already won 2 races in his first season and was on the podium six more times, which Tom Sykes was unable to do on the Yamaha R1. He moved to Kawasaki for the 2010 season. It was the second year for the Greens factory team led by Paul Bird, immediately after Kawasaki’s retirement from MotoGP. Tom made it into the top five for the first time on the ZX-10R shortly before the middle of the season, but was only at the front in the last 3 World Championship rounds. The best result in Imola was a sixth and fourth place.

Start of the first race of the 2010 season with Vermeulen and Checa on the far left and in the middle of the picture between the 35 from Crutchlow and the 91 from Leon Haslam Tom Sykes with the 66 on a Kawasaki ZX-10R. For more about these years of WorldSBK see our richly illustrated history.

The increase and the breakthrough with Sykes
It was the 10th of thirteen rounds for the Greens in the second year that the Yorkshire man stood on the podium for the first time. On the other hand, it was a victory in the second race at the Nürburgring in the rain. In the World Championships, after 13th place, he ended up 14th as the best Kawasaki rider. Then came the breakthrough for Tom and the Greens in 2012. When from now on Provec Racing in Granollers, Spain, was responsible for the Greens’ work at the factory, things went up steeply, also with Tom. Three podiums in the first four races and in the middle of the season third in the World Championship behind Biaggi (Aprilia) and Rea (Honda). It was to be the tightest decision in the WSBK’s title fight when Max Biaggi won his second title at the Aprilia RSV4 Factory with only 0.5 points ahead of Sykes. In the following year, the Roman was no longer there and Sykes was 2013 World Champion for Kawasaki ahead of Eugene Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli (both Aprilia).

Tom Sykes in his best year in the Kawasaki box of the team stationed in Catalonia from 2012. After the narrowest defeat in history, they made it to the second title for the Greens, exactly 20 years after the American Scott Russell.
A memory of the first world champion on Kawasaki from the USA – the intrepid Scott Russell with his Kawasaki ZXR-750 Ninja.

The new era for Kawasaki – from 2015

For Sykes, after his title, the year after that, as in 2012, was again quite frustrating. The Englishman won 8 of 24 races and still lost the world championship to Aprilia Ass Guintoli, who had only won five times. Even Melandri, who was fourth in the World Cup, had one more win than the French. But from 2015 began for Kawasaki and one can indeed claim that the whole WSBK, a new era. With Jonathan Rea as a new addition, all opponents of the Northern Irishman began very tough years for Tom. But for Kawasaki and the Spanish-domiciled team they became so glorious as they had never dared to dream before. The humble man from Ballymena drove the competition to the ground. He had won a total of fifteen times on Honda from 2009 to 2014. With the Greens there were 14 wins in the first year alone!

Jonathan Rea with his team after the first title for Kawasaki on the ZX-10R, the last time with the number 65 and from then on only with the 1 on his Ninja. Right of his gold helmet crew chief Pere Riba.

The glorious following years for Johnny and the Greens
After his fourth title in a row in 2018, Rea had already pulverized all records with 71 wins. Even “King Carl” Fogarty had long since got rid of his crown and could only get a new one with a title as Jungle King in a British documentary soap. Some fans will never forgive the Ducati icon, but none of them took away his 4 titles as the second best Superbike rider in history. The new Superbike king ranked success after success and if he ever made a mistake, his mistakes made one more or more serious. It actually got brutally tough for Rea for the first time in the 2019 season, when Ducati competed with the Spanish flyweight Alvaro Bautista and the MotoGP replica Panigale V4R.

Photographed by us before the start of the newly introduced Superpole Race in Aragon on Sunday morning April 7, 2019, with Alvaro Bautista in pole position on the right front. Jonathan Rea at the far left of the picture in row 4, along with Yamaha ace Michael van der Mark and Leon Haslam, Rea’s Kawasaki team-mate this year.

They could defeat even the toughest opponents again and again
We were there when the best driver of all time, for example in BuriRam (Thailand), was overtaken at start-finish with around 20 km / h more top speed and immediately left behind. After turn 1 and the straight that followed, the Spaniard was already around 50 m ahead of the Northern Irishman. The Ducati newcomer won a total of 11 races in a row before heading to Imola. We were there too when the tide suddenly began to turn. Finally, the Kawasaki driver had a course without a straight that was too long for him and the ZX-10RR, which was clearly inferior to the Panigale at top speed. Just on the next route to the Ducati factory in the calendar, Jonathan drove up and away from all opponents. This was the crux of the season, and it proved that he and his team could defeat even the toughest competitors again and again.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) Photographed by us in Imola after his first win of the 2019 season – it marked the turning point in the fight for the title and then Alvaro Bautista began stringing mistakes after mistakes until he lost his World Championship lead to the Northern Irishman and his team.
A gift from the then 4-time world champion in Imola – after his first victory in 2019, he ceremoniously removed his helmet and handed over to MotoRacers Zippy. We cherish it as a memento of his motto “dream – believe – achieve”!

What does the 2021 season bring for Kawasaki?

As Tom Sykes’s performance explosion in 2012 impressively underscored, the successes of Kawasaki and Jonathan Rea are always the result of perfect teamwork. Even the now six-time record world champion never tires of emphasizing this himself at every opportunity. A good team also includes a good teammate and after Sykes this was also Leon Haslam and since 2020 Alex Lowes. The man from Lincoln harmonizes perfectly with the reigning world champion. He has proven his speed often enough, and after the 2020 season opener was a new addition to the championship for a short time. With Rea, the goal of defending his title is clear. With the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR Ninja, its box neighbour can also be a danger for many opponents. As long as Alex doesn’t crash too often, Kawasaki can even defend last year’s victory in the manufacturers’ championship. To put it diplomatically: It will definitely not be easier for the competition this season than it was before.

Jonathan Rea auf der Kawasakii ZX-10RR in Aragon – From this perspective the opponents saw him last year in the Superpole Race on the first weekend, but will he also be able to be at the forefront on the new Ninja? (© Kawasaki Racing Team).

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© WorldSBK).