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Speed-images · Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 81 Location: Cheshire

Akira Yanagawa will race a Kawasaki at the Motegi Moto GP round this year. Cool

Kawasaki has announced it is to field long-time factory rider Akira Yanagawa as a wildcard rider for the MotoGP round at Twin-Ring Motegi. The current All-Japan Superbike series leader helped to develop the ZX-RR in the first place, so expect some fireworks at one of his home circuits.

He debuted the bike at Motegi in 2002 but crashed and broke his pelvis so Andrew Pitt was drafted in to help out. Yanagawa now rides a Kawasaki ZX-10R for Team Green in the Japanese superbike series. After five rounds, he’s claimed one victory, at Tsukuba circuit, and a second, at Autopolis, putting him two points ahead of nearest rival, Atsushi Watanabe, with just three rounds remaining.

"The first time I raced the Ninja ZX-RR was also at Motegi, when Kawasaki made their long awaited return to Grand Prix racing after an absence of more than two decades," he said. "On that occasion I crashed out of the race, so I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to finally finish what I started five years ago.

"I'm under no illusions about how tough it will be, racing against the very best riders in the world, but I hope that I will be able to finish in the points and also provide important feedback for Kawasaki's development engineers. For me, race day will be about enjoying the chance to race the latest version of Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR and finishing as high up the order as I can."

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