In the Superstock classes, which kicked off their first round of action at Motorland Aragon in mid-April, Kawasaki is well represented again and Ninja series machines featured on the Spanish podiums.
If you are looking for the closest link between a production motorcycle and a race machine then you need look no further than the Superstock classes that run in conjunction with most European rounds of the Superbike World Championship.
Taking place with almost completely stock regulations, only allowing for track safety and a very few race modifications, the Superstock machines still deliver a true punch and always provide thrilling racing on closely matched machinery.
The competition credentials of the Ninja series machines, from Superbike to Superstock, are impeccable and this is what makes each model in the 1000cc and 600cc classes such a popular choice.
In the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup category Kawasaki has not only enjoyed strong representation but there has already had podium success in 2013. Leandro Mercado (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) took his Ninja ZX-10R to third at the Motorland Aragon round. In Superstock 1000 a whopping 14 of the 27 bikes that entered the Aragon round were Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10Rs, more than half the field! In the race itself, half the top six machines in the 12-lap race came from the Kawasaki stable.
In the 1000cc stock class Team Pedercini riders Mercado and Leandro Savadori are expected to be front-runners all the way in 2013, as is fourth placed Motorland runner Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS) who won a race in this category last year on a Ninja ZX-10R. Jeremy’s team-mate Christophe Ponsson is another to watch and there is one more MRS rider, this time from Team MRS Kawasaki, who has already scored strong points in Spain - Romain Lanusse.
Christoffer Bergman is a proven talent for the BWG Kawasaki squad after hopping on the podium last year. Pedercini, as an umbrella organisation, is supplying machines to five riders in 2013; Mercado and Savadori who have already been mentioned, and also Simone Grotskyi Giorgi (Pedercini Racing Team Kawasaki) plus Pedercini Team duo Alessandro Andreozzi and Federico Dittadi. Team Go Eleven riders Mitchell Pirotta and Alberto Butti, plus Team OGP competitors Jonathan Crea and Randy Pagaud will also run with Kawasaki power in 2013. Tomas Svitok (SK Energy – Fany Gastro) completes the 2013 Kawasaki FIM Cup regulars.
In the Superstock UEM 600 European Championship, Tony Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki) had finished within a second of the race win and secured the runner-up spot overall. In the Superstock 600 class seven Kawasaki machines entered and three of them placed inside the top seven at the flag. The potent Ninja ZX-6R – the base and development platform for the most recent 636cc road version of the Ninja – is a proven article in Superstock 600 racing.
The magnificent Kawasaki seven in the 600 Superstock class include Motorland podium man Covena, plus other high class entries like Franco Morbidelli and Alessandro Nocco (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki), Christian Gamarino. Russia’s Alexey Ivanov (Kawasaki DMC-Lorenzini), Austria’s Julian Mayer (Motorrad Mayer) and Thomas Vavrous (Montaza Broz Racing Team) are all running Kawasaki power in 2013.
For both classes of Superstock, the season will consist of nine rounds, with the only European events not hosting stock races being Donington in the UK and Moscow Raceway.