Hayate team not looking for extra technical support

The new Hayate MotoGP team will not work in partnership with an external engineering company to help develop the re-branded factory Kawasaki ZX-RR in 2009.

Kawasaki will cease development on the Hayate machine immediately after this weekend’s IRTA test session at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

The only Kawasaki involvement for the remainder of the 2009 campaign will focus on maintenance of the engines used by Italian Marco Melandri.

Earlier this year, British engineering firm Ilmor had expressed an interest in a technical collaboration with Kawasaki.

The Northamptonshire-based engineering experts were interested in a plan to develop the ZX-RR bikes had they been run in a private team run by former Kawasaki boss Michael Bartholemy.

But that deal collapsed and the Hayate team was formed to keep the number of bikes on the 2009 grid at 18.

Hayate team boss Andrea Dosoli though told MCN that despite the lack of development on the ZX-RR after the end of March, the Dutch-based team would not be looking for external technical support.

“We are proud of what we have done and we want to keep working with our engineers. We have not had any contact with any external engineering company about development and I doubt we ever will,“ said Dosoli.

The Hayate team and Melandri will be testing in Jerez this coming Saturday and Sunday.

The two-day session completes pre-season testing for MotoGP, with the first race under Qatar’s floodlights on April 12.