{"id":464,"date":"2022-02-09T07:38:13","date_gmt":"2022-02-09T07:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mra.net.au\/?post_type=content&p=464"},"modified":"2022-02-10T06:11:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T06:11:14","slug":"kawasaki-racing-mxgp-team-ready-for-2022-with-new-management","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/mra.net.au\/content\/kawasaki-racing-mxgp-team-ready-for-2022-with-new-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Kawasaki Racing MXGP Team Ready For 2022 With New Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
The Kawasaki Racing Team will again enter the FIM Motocross World Championship with a strong line-up in the premier MXGP class; the 2022 series starts on February 19-20 at Matterley Basin (UK).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2021 was an epic end-of-season as three riders battled all the way down to the final moto for the title and with the silver medal, headed by the slenderest of margins, Romain Febvre gave Kawasaki its best-ever result in the premier MXGP class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The thirty-year-old Frenchman will again be the leader of KRT after signing a new two-year deal directly with the Japanese factory which will now be even more deeply involved in the new project as the reins of the Kawasaki Racing Team pass to Formula One legend Kimi Raikkonen<\/strong> and past motocross GP winner Antti Pyrhonen<\/strong>. Both have been involved in the sport for many years and celebrate their tenth anniversary in MXGP this year. In fact, their first season together was on private Kawasaki machinery, and they are now back in Green to run the Factory Kawasaki Racing Team assault with full support from KMC Japan and KME.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor sure it has not been my best winter since I started racing. It\u2019s always frustrating to be recovering from an injury while your rivals are working on the tracks but that\u2019s how it is; injuries are part of our sport,\u201d Febvre said. \u201cMy recovery is going well and I can\u2019t wait to get back on my Kawasaki. The championship will again be long and I will do my best to start racing as soon as possible. 2021 was definitely a great season for me; I felt so comfortable on the KX450-SR and I was fighting for the title until the very last moto. Signing a two-year factory deal with Japan was good for my confidence, and it is another boost to be involved in the new project from day one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n England\u2019s Ben Watson<\/strong>, a long-time training partner of Romain Febvre, will enter his second season in the MXGP class after a strong learning year in 2021; the young British talent is ready to enter the pre-season races this weekend on the island of Sardinia and one week later in France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere aren\u2019t so many factory rides in the MXGP class so I\u2019m very proud to be selected by the Kawasaki Racing Team for my second year in this championship,\u201d Watson said. \u201cIt\u2019s a new chapter of my career and it\u2019s great to work closely with Romain; we know and appreciate each other as we have trained together in the past. I learnt a lot during my rookie season and I am confident for the season ahead as I have seen how strong the team is after sharing time together for a couple of months already. It\u2019s really exciting to be part of this new challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n