Kawasaki unveils Tom Sykes' 2014 green machine
Kawasaki unveiled the #1 machine with which Englishman Tom Sykes will defend his World Superbike crown at a ceremony in Barcelona on Thursday evening.
The livery features more white on the fairing relative to last year.
Sykes was joined by team-mate Loris Baz and Evo rider David Salom, with the 30th of January date selected to kick off celebrations for this year's 30th anniversary of the Ninja model.
"It is great to be here in Barcelona at the 2014 launch," said Sykes. "I do not even need to look at the bike to know what it is because it is engraved in my memory. I have shared a lot of great times with this Ninja ZX-10R and I know we can be competitive again.
"We have had some really good tests in the off-season even though I did not feel at my full potential. I am excited and even more motivated than last year to start racing again."
Baz highlighted the need to improve his qualifying performances.
"We know that on Fridays and Saturdays we have to improve in practice and qualifying. In the races I am always strong but the nearer you start to the front row the better it is," said the young Frenchman. "The target for me is to start in the two front rows each time, and then try to go with the leading guys. If I can start well I am sure I can be with those guys in front in the races.
"We have already made a big step with the bike set up in testing this winter. It looks really good this year with more white on the fairing so it will look different from some of the other bikes."
Salom meanwhile has his sights set on winning the new Evo class.
"I am very pleased and proud to be riding the SBK Evo bike for the official Kawasaki Racing Team," commented the Spaniard. "Because I will ride the Evo machine it will not be like the full Superbikes of Tom and Loris but I hope to be at the head of the Evo race each time. I am happy to be in the Kawasaki family again."
As well as the riders, a number of special guests and other team members made speeches during the launch, including Javier Alonso, managing director of Dorna WSBK, Shigemi Tanaka of Kawasaki Motors Europe, Steve Guttridge KME Racing manager, KRT Marketing manager Biel Roda and team manager Guim Roda.
"I am happy to say that not only do we enter 2014 as champions in Superbike, but also we look forward to celebrating 30 years of the famous Ninja brand as the year unfolds," said Tanaka. "We wish all of our Kawasaki World Superbike team sponsors, and those engaged in support for the KRT Provec team, good luck and good fortune in the year ahead."
"We are 100% committed to winning the World Superbike title again," declared Gutteridge. "As you already know, we are now looking to the future of WSBK and making an extra commitment via our development of a new SBK Evo rules machine within the 2014 Championship, with the highly talented Spaniard David Salom on board the Evo SBK Ninja ZX-10R."
