New ZX-10R for 2016
A recent interview by Kawasaki's world superbike team manager was extremely illuminating: he said he'd have new tackle to play with next yearIt's a frightening prospect, really. Jonathan Rea has dominated the 2015 world superbike (WSBK) title on the Kawasaki ZX-10R, and will wrap up the championship at the third last round at Jerez on September 20.
That will be Kawasaki's second WSBK title in three years, and in 2016 the company will relaunch its efforts to add another with news that it's about to release a revised version of the ZX-10R — a machine that will be ultra-potent in stock trim.
Guim Roda, Kawasaki's WSBK team manager, recently spilt the new ZX-10R beans in an interview with German motorsports publication Speedweek, and there's a fair chance that Rea and his teammate Tom Sykes will be throwing a leg over the machine soon enough in preparation for the 2016 season.
The new litre-class bike from Kawasaki will follow in the footsteps of recent releases from the likes of Ducati (Panigale), BMW Motorrad (S 1000 RR) and Aprilia (RSV4 RF), which were engineered as competitive 'beasts' straight out of the crate as the stricter new-generation WSBK rules don't allow for expensive factory developments.
Roda said that Kawasaki won't be starting from scratch with the MY2016 ZX-10R, but will be focusing on improving the main elements of producing better lap times — the chassis, engine and electronics — in a hotter version of the current bike, much like MV Agusta is doing with the F4 RC, a souped-up take on the F4 RR.
When will we see the new ZX-10R make its public debut? It will be most likely be at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan from November 19-22, but we will keep you posted.
Source: autoevolution
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