Kawasaki Road Racers - Tapa dura

Despite inconsistent support from the corporation, Kawasaki motorcycles and their riders have achieved some extraordinary results. This full-color history, with sidebars providing easily accessible information on significant riders and teams, tells the complete story of Kawasaki's involvement in road racing. The story begins with Dave Simmonds' 1969 125cc World Championship, and continues through the KR 250 and 350 that proved virtually unbeatable from 1978 to 1982, Wayne Rainey's AMA Superbike Championship in 1983 and Scot Russell's in 1993, and the Kawasaki's dominance of endurance racing in the 1990s.

This volume tells the story of Kawasaki's involvement in road racing. As a company dominated by engineers, the will to race has always been there, but with motorcycles only representing a small part of a much larger conglomerate, economic circumstances have often dictated involvement, resulting in the company's racing efforts being characterized by inconsistency. However, Kawasaki has achieved some extraordinary results. The first notable success was in 1969, when Dave Simmonds won the 125cc World Championship, and more recently Kawasaki took the World Endurance Championship in 1996. The volume covers: the Grand Prix, superbike and endurance racing history; the story of the KR 250 and 350; Wayne Rainey's AMA Superbike Championship title in 1983 on the GPz750; the ZXR750R, which took Scot Russell to the World Superbike Championship title in 1993; Kawasaki's dominance in endurance racing during the 1990s; and statistics of Kawasaki's road-racing record. The text is illustrated in colour throughout, and features sidebars providing information on significant riders and teams.