A shake-up at Kawasaki in the SSP World Championship: Why the Japanese are daring to make a fresh start

In future, Kawasaki aims to nurture talent from within the Kawasaki family so that it no longer has to poach riders from other teams and manufacturers. The basic idea behind this is that riders should identify more closely with the Kawasaki brand and be retained through realistic prospects for promotion – just as Yamaha has been successfully demonstrating for years.

The signing of Jaume Masià as the figurehead for the 2027 Supersport World Championship only seems out of place at first glance. The Spaniard has been the best Ducati rider in the middleweight class for two years and has never ridden a high-revving four-cylinder motorbike. The fact that the 25-year-old will succeed in making the switch to the ZX-6R 636 is a gamble on the future.

However, none of the Kawasaki riders from the Sportbike series are yet emerging as obvious candidates for the role of Supersport team leader. That is why David Salvador (23) is being paired with an experienced rider like Masia, who in turn presents himself as a potential successor to Garrett Gerloff (31) or as a second Superbike rider in the medium term. The 2027 SSP team represents a rejuvenation compared to this year’s rider duo of Jeremy Alcoba (24) and Dominique Aegerter (35).

“Of course, our challenge is always to put together the best possible combination of bike and rider,” emphasised Steve Guttridge of Kawasaki Europe. “Jaume completes Kawasaki’s official rider line-up for the 2027 Supersport World Championship, and we’d all like to welcome him to Team Green and wish him every success. David has shown that he has a natural feel for our Ninja and possesses the mentality of a true racer. We look forward to supporting him, together with Kawasaki, in the next phase of his career. At the same time, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Jeremy and Domi for their hard work and tireless commitment for the remainder of this season.”

A shrewd move is the use of the Ninja 636 in the Sportbike and Supersport categories. As they move up the ranks, the Kawasaki riders will therefore only have to get used to the higher engine power.

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“We have decided to field the ZX-6R in the new Sportbike class to enable our young riders to better understand the demands of the Supersport World Championship and familiarise themselves with the bike’s key characteristics,” confirmed the Englishman. “The Supersport class is extremely competitive and boasts a wealth of talent, with the starting grid comprising both young and experienced riders. Given the wide variety of different configurations and engine capacity classes permitted under the technical regulations, the championship organisers face a major challenge in constantly balancing the performance of the motorbikes with the actual potential of each individual rider.”