PRE-SEASON IRTA TEST - CATALUNYA, SPAIN
19 MARCH 2005

NAKANO FASTER AS BIG BANG DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES

Glorious spring weather continued in Barcelona today, allowing the Kawasaki
Racing Team to complete another intensive day of pre-season testing at the
Circuit de Catalunya.

Riders Shinya Nakano, Alex Hofmann and Kazuki Shimizu completed a total of 160
laps in the build-up to the opening race of the season at Jerez on April 10. The
three-day IRTA test concludes tomorrow.

Nakano continued to focus on Kawasaki's new big bang Ninja ZX-RR engine, which
only made its public track debut at the February Sepang test in Malaysia.

The 27-year-old Japanese rider also evaluated new front and rear tyres from
Kawasaki's tyre partner Bridgestone.

Hofmann's main programme today was tyre testing with the latest generation of
compounds and constructions aboard his Ninja ZX-RR fitted with the standard
'screamer' motor. Hofmann will switch to the big bang engine specification for
tomorrow's final day of testing at Catalunya.

Hofmann also briefly evaluated a different stiffness swinging arm and plans to
do further work on this set-up tomorrow.

Test rider Shimizu, who is riding the Circuit de Catalunya for the first time,
continued in his role of gathering engine and fuel injection data to support the
big bang motor development programme.

Kawasaki's exhaust system sponsor Akrapovic supplied a range of different pipes
for testing; including a four outlet system that Kawasaki technical director
Ichiro Yoda said was the preferred option for the new revised firing order motor.

Tomorrow's track schedule features the annual 40-minute qualifying shoot-out,
with a BMW 1 Series car going to the rider who sets the fastest time.

Shinya Nakano: #56 - 60 laps  (1'43.688)

"This was a very hard day, with a lot of tyre testing and trying to sort out
some problems with the engine braking system on the new big bang motor. The bike
is unstable on corner entry, so I have to ride around that, and this makes it
hard work on the bike. One of the new Bridgestone rear tyres I tried was very
good, with excellent side grip, and this helped me do my fast lap. The 2005
ZX-RR has a lot of potential, but I'll be happier when I'm going faster."

Alex Hofmann #66 - 55 laps  (1'44.668)

"I did a lot of tyre testing today, mainly rears, to try and confirm some
direction for the opening races of the season with the new compounds.
Bridgestone have obviously been working hard and there is an improvement in rear
side grip at maximum lean angle. The plan is for me to switch to the big bang
engine tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to finding out how much it has improved
since I first tested it at Jerez last month."

Kazuki Shimizu: #40 - 45 laps (1'51.822)

"I have been testing and learning the track at the same time today. This is a
high-speed circuit, but I'm enjoying my first visit to Barcelona. My job is to
support Shinya's engine test programme, to collect as much data as possible, and
to ride fast without crashing."

Ichiro Yoda - Technical Director

"The big bang engine concept has a character that is different from the even
firing order of the 'screamer' and this produces the corner entry problems that
Shinya is experiencing. This test has helped us to understand the problem and we
are working on a solution, but this will not be available for testing until next
month."