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Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR
The Ninja ZX-RR is a race bike from Kawasaki, which was raced
in the MotoGP world championship. The bike made its debut towards the end of the
2002 MotoGP season with the Australian rider Andrew Pitt.
In 2004, Shinya Nakano joined the team and managed to get ZX-RR's first podium
with a third place at the Japanese Grand Prix. In 2005, Olivier Jacque scored a
second place at the Chinese Grand Prix. The next year Nakano finished second at
the Dutch TT. In 2007, Randy de Puniet scored a second place at the Japanese
Grand Prix. In 2008, it was ridden by John Hopkins and Anthony West.
The ZX-RR struggled in 2008, with the best results being two fifth place
finishes from John Hopkins in Portugal and Anthony West in Brno. Hopkins and
West blamed both a lack of feeling in the front end and rear traction on corner
exit. Previous ZX-RRs have been difficult to ride, but beyond the limited
statements by the riders it is unclear what the problems with the 2008 bike
were.
At the end of the 2008 season, Kawasaki announced its retirement from the MotoGP
world championship.
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