An announcement made by Kawasaki Japan today confirmed that the long awaited return of the famous lime-green bikes back into GP racing will happen sooner rather than later. The fourth of the Japanese major motorcycle manufacturers to confirm their interest in MotoGP, Kawasaki were expected by all to wait until 2003 before taking their place in the world's most prestigious motorcycle competition, MotoGP. However, it has now been announced that the firm plan to run a prototype four-stroke bike in certain rounds of the All-Japan Road-Racing Championships and more importantly at specific events in the 2002 MotoGP World Championship calendar.
Work on the 'in-line four' machine is currently in progress, and 2002 as a whole is seen as a development year by the factory, with any participation in the events being on purely an experimental basis. The rider at these races would be official Kawasaki tester for this project, Akira Yanagawa, who rode the green liveried ZX-7RR in the World Superbike Championships last year.
The news that Kawasaki will run their new four-stroke at several events in the Japanese national competition comes as little shock following Suzuki's decision last week that its two main riders Ryo and Kagayama will ride the XREO prototype in the same series as part of its development programme. However, the fact that the Kawasaki will definitely be present at some of the later MotoGP events in 2002, is terrific news for both the competition and the fans, who will undoubtedly be delighted to see the return of the Japanese bikes after an absence of 20 years from the premier road-racing class. It has not yet been determined which events they will compete in, as any decision depends on the development made throughout this year.
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