WSB: Kawasaki unveil 2022 ZX-10RR livery ahead of Barcelona test

Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes have revealed their 2022 Kawasaki ZX-10RR World Superbike livery ahead of a private test in Barcelona.

The KRT team hosted a special launch event at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last night (March 23), riders, crew chiefs and team management on-hand for the presentation and interviews with the media.

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The livery itself is almost identical to the 2020 design. It’s primarily green and black, and is complete with hints of white and red. Monster Energy, Showa and Motocard remain as dominant sponsors on the ZX-10RR.

Of course, one key difference for 2022 is that Rea returns to his traditional number 65 for the first time since the 2015 season. The six-time world champion was dethroned last year by Toprak Razgatlioglu and Yamaha, with the Crescent Racing squad also securing the Teams’ and Constructors’ crowns.

Alex Lowes enters his third season with KRT and is looking for a return to form after seeing the second half of his 2021 campaign ruined by injury. A broken hand, and a tricky recovery period, ruled him out race two at Jerez, the entire Portimao round and the second race in Argentina.

Lowes then suffered a highside during FP3 at the Madalika Street Circuit during the season finale and was diagnosed with a right acromioclavicular joint separation – bring his season to a premature end.

Since joining KRT, Lowes has secured a single victory, eight further podiums and one fastest lap.

“After over a decade being so closely connected with this Kawasaki WorldSBK project, and with eight titles in that time, our primary goals are another riders’ championship, plus teams’ and manufacturers’ titles in 2022,”KRT Team Manager, Guim Roda said. “Launching the new team livery so close to our base in Granollers allows everyone connected with the team to be involved and it’s a great launch pad for our mission to succeed.

Both Johnny and Alex have the potential to win races and chase for championship honours, and we have many dedicated staff who have worked with us for several years. For sure the challenge is big, but we have come up with good plans and now our ‘big unveil’ becomes a major public display of our commitment to succeed.”

The current official KRT effort, managed by Provec Racing, is entering the 11th year of its partnership with Kawasaki.

Rea and Lowes now turn their focus to a two-day test at the Barcelona circuit on March 25-26. The final official WSB test takes place at Aragon on April 4-5, with the Spanish circuit also hosting the season opener on April 8-10.