WSB: Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes unveil 2023 Kawasaki livery

Kawasaki has unveiled its new livery ahead of the opening round of the 2023 World Superbike Championship season at Phillip Island.

This year’s ZX-10RR features much more ‘Kawasaki Green’ on the fairings compared to previous seasons, with the majority of the side fairings left clean and crisp with only Kawasaki brandings.

The remainder of the bike is black with dashes of white and red, whilst the rider numbers on the sides of the bikes have taken a more central position, rather than the regular slot towards the bottom of the bike.  

Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes’ leathers have also been given a fresh look, primarily black with green on the arms, shoulders, and part of the chest.

The bike was revealed as part of a joint video launch between Kawasaki’s official WSB and MXGP teams. Rea and Lowes were joined by MXGP riders Romain Febvre and Mitch Evens in the presentation, which was filmed in Barcelona last month.

“I am really excited about this new season,” Rea said. “We had a really solid off season. I am also excited to go to Phillip Island and start the year in what seems to us like a more normal way. I feel that I have prepared really well away from the track, and during the winter tests we have improved, which is very motivating.

“It’s nice to have some new people around and that itself brings a different feel. I am eager to get going. We have made progress with the bike and are working hard to try to improve our feeling and results from last season. Hopefully we can challenge for race wins and fight for a world title.”

Whilst Rea has his sights firmly set on beating Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatliolglu in order to claim a seventh world title, teammate Lowes is hoping to close the gap to the runaway trio.

“I love how the bike looks. I really like the 2023 design,” Lowes said. “Last year I had some quite good speed, strong Superpole performances and I could hang with the top three. As the race went on, when the grip dropped, I was struggling a little bit more. That is an area we have focused on. I am really looking forward to the year.

“I have had a good winter of training and I really can’t wait to get started. It may be a few years now that I have been in the Superbike World Championship, but I am still excited like it is the first time; like I felt back in 2014. Now I am looking forward to getting to Australia and getting down to business.”

With pre-season testing now complete, Rea and Lowes head to Australia for the opening round on February 24-26. Round two follows one week later at the Mandalika International Street Circuit, Indonesia.