New Kawasaki strategy: No money for other brands’ top riders

Ahead of the race weekend at Donington Park, Kawasaki announced David Salvador as its first factory rider for the 2027 Supersport World Championship. This makes it clear that either Dominique Aegerter or Jeremy Alcoba – or even both – will lose their place with the Greens. The 23-year-old Spaniard currently leads the Sportbike World Championship and is a product of Kawasaki’s own youth programme.

“We are very proud to be able to offer young riders within the Kawasaki family opportunities like this,” emphasised Kawasaki team principal Manuel Puccetti. “This season, David has demonstrated that he possesses a great deal of skill, and his performances on the track highlight his talent, maturity and race management skills. These are qualities that will stand him in good stead in a higher and more demanding class such as Supersport. I would also like to highlight the excellent work being done by the Kawasaki teams in the sportbike classes in nurturing and developing young riders who may one day become part of official Kawasaki teams – not only in the Supersport World Championship but also in the Superbike World Championship.”

Von links: Steve Guttridge, David Salvador und Manuel Puccetti

Foto: Kawasaki

Steve Guttridge, Head of Racing at Kawasaki Europe, added: “We have opted for the Ninja ZX-6R 636 in the new Sportbike class to help our young riders understand the demands of the next big step up to the Supersport World Championship and familiarise themselves with the bike’s key characteristics. David is clearly a perfect fit for our Ninja and has the mentality of a true racing rider. We look forward to supporting him in the next phase of his career with Kawasaki.”

The glory days are a thing of the past

For years, Kawasaki set the standard in the World Superbike Championship; between 2013 and 2020, the team won a total of seven riders’ titles across eight years with Tom Sykes (1) and Jonathan Rea (6). In the Supersport class, the Greens were also strong, most recently winning the championship in 2012, 2015 and 2016 with Kenan Sofuoglu.

In recent years, however, outstanding results have been few and far between, which is why Kawasaki has now changed its strategy, as team boss Puccetti revealed to SPEEDWEEK.com in a private conversation. “The president of Kawasaki Japan was at Misano and emphasised that we must nurture talent within the Kawasaki family. He doesn’t like it when we have to poach top riders from other teams; he wants us to develop our own young riders. Because these are riders who believe in Kawasaki and will grow up with us.”

I spent six years helping Toprak Razgatlioglu make his way to the top.

Manuel Puccetti

“I used to do this for Kawasaki with my team: I spent six years developing Toprak Razgatlioglu, as well as Randy Krummenacher and Lucas Mahias, from the Supersport World Championship to the Superbike World Championship,” Puccetti explained. “Kawasaki has realised that this is the right approach. For budgetary reasons too: if someone comes through the ranks within your own organisation, that’s an investment. If, on the other hand, you have to buy a top rider from another manufacturer, that costs a lot of money. The Kawasaki president wants the riders to be with us out of conviction, not just for the money. That’s why Garrett Gerloff will be riding his third Superbike World Championship season with us next year, and that’s why we’re promoting David Salvador.”