Laconi set to leave Kawasaki.

Good for him! Always liked Laconi, as he seemed a good natured & pleasant chap. He was competitive on the factory Ducati team a few years back & still recall his good sportsmanship when he was taken out while leading the race by Troy Bayliss @ Imola in '02 & instead of reacting angrily, he knelt beside Troy to check on his injury status.

yes I agree a nice bloke and a really good superbike rider who should definitely find a better ride for next year to remind everyone that he was once a real contender

and a good gp rider too

and a good gp rider too

Good! Kwak are wasting him and Tamada. Kwak has 2 GP winners and the bike is no where.

I agree, Laconi is a top rider, and bloke. i hope he gets a better ride and return to the glory days like when he was on the factory duke.
I just hope Kawasaki dont get Ant West to replace him!

Him and Tamada have had a real torrid year on a obviusly umcompetative bike as the season has progressed. Near the begining we saw Tamada have some great rides including Missano where he was up to 6th in the race before crashing out on the penultimate lap. I hope both him and Tamada get decent rides next year (maybe they can both go to the 2 vacant seats at Yamaha) as Yam will need a Japanese rider who can develop a bike and laconi is a tried and tested Development rider for the new 09 R1 and with the team mate thing sorted it could be a very strong team 2 GP and Superbike winners in 1 team!! Tasty!! Go! Go! Tamada and Laconi San

Nothing against the bloke, but how he managed to keep his seat and then the team dump't walker who gave them there only win in recent years l never know.
If the teams he's talking to are interested in him, then he must be able to bring a lot of money to the table, for me he brings little else. It's obvious he carn't develope a bike, he needs a bike that someone's already sorted. Kawasaki need a fresh start, they have gone round and round in circles and getting know where. Plenty of power but knowone to set it up and ride it. They will really need to up there game with the new teams comeing to play next season.

Agreed Chris - the Kwak clearly isn't the bike to have in WSBK, but you're measured against your team-mates - and Regis has been outpaced or at the very least covered by both Walker and Nieto. Fonsi now is on a top bike and still has been shown up by the more talented and vastly less arrogant Max Neukirchner. So it's beyond me why Regis should have a better or even a factory seat - there's tons of guys out there who haven't yet had their day in the sun, and who would do a far better job. And as for Kwak - they're going to need someone who actually knows what he's doing. Pitt would be my pick (not that he'd be interested), and I give Badovini the thumbs up - at least he's a tryer.

ARE YOU LOT SERIOUS! Yes he has had some good racs in the past, but no more, he want set the world on fire, so i can't believe duc or yam would seriously look at he.

You are right greensleeves - Laconi and Tamadas fast days were a long time ago. I can only imagine Sterilgarda Ducati (the Xaus seat)or Yamaha France (the Nakatomi seat) or some of the minor private rides being available, but in fairness to Laconi the main problem with Kawasaki is lack of budget.

by the look of it on the alstare blog is that psg1 have brought the rg team and running dukes next year? and just shows kawasaki team

Kawasaki biggest failing is themselves. They ditched Walker who was by far their best rider for years and kept Laconi who to my mind has had his day. Yes he has had a fair career but i agree with slick its all but over. if kawasaki want a shot at taking the title then they need to put some effort into it cos the bikes they build aint exactly slow.

Cant believe he ended up wasting 3 seasons on a "SackofCrappy"
They have not been any good since Slight, Crafar, Gobert, Phillis and Russell rode them 15-20 years ago.
To be honest I dont think he would win another race even on a top bike.(which he wont get because there are too many younger riders out there showing promise)
Things have moved on since he was "on it" a few years ago.
Nice, honest bloke that made a few bad decisions like many bike racers do.

I can't recall exactly and I know Curtain was in Supersport but who was riding the kwaka that took him out from behind a couple of years ago? I don't think that Kawasaki need a develeopment rider as much as they need to resort their team from top to bottom in all road racing. It seems to me that just about all the kawasaki riders are not being listened to by the team. I could be wrong but that's what it seems like to me. There are just too many riders having problems.

Regis Laconi should retire.

GIL Motorsports has announced a few weeks ago they would no longer run Kawasakis next year. Now Laconi is saying he won't be on a Kwacka, and Harms127 tells us there are news of PSG-1 merging with RG Team and run Ducatis again... Sounds to me like a big announcement to come from Kawasaki : either they will enter a proper factory team, or they just withdraw from superbike/supersport racing and focus on MotoGP.

Akira Yanagawa once in 1999 and twice in 1997, Hitoyasu Izutsu (wildcard double at Sugo) in 2000 and Chris Walker in the wet at Assen in 2006. Not much to show for the last 11 years of WSBK competition.

Since 1994 and Russell's 8 wins, the best Kawasaki WSBK year for wins was 1996 with Gobert winning three and he won 2 in 95. It's all been downhill since then.

"Who Cares" & "DBL" Very interesting comments. Its going to be very interesting to see what happens. i think that it would be good for the sport to see a competitive Kawasaki team but it is difficult to see where it is going to come from, particularly in the short term.

Agree with Who Cares, that Kawi should either plan to invest in a proper team and bike or get out. It would be great if they would put all the proper resources into making it work and be competitive with the winning teams not just being a grid filler. I don't blame Laconi for looking elsewhere but he probably should have done this a year or two ago.