The team have been fully immersed in every aspect of the new machine from start to finish which, in turn, has paid dividends in terms of the new 2024 KX450 sold by Kawasaki dealers.
Coordinating the development between the Akashi factory race workshop in Japan and via secret testing at tracks across the globe, KRT and Kawasaki engineers have taken all the established good points of the 2023 machine and upgraded, replaced or redesigned the areas that GP winner, Romain Febvre, singled out for attention.
Traction and grip were also a point of reference in the development stage and the chassis, suspension and wheels were all given special attention to aid the precision of the new factory SR – particularly front end grip and feel, essential when each tenth is crucial at the highest level of racing. And regarding suspension, KRT continues its established approach in 2024 with Febvre using Showa factory items and Seewer riding on factory KYB units.
Electronic rider aids continue to grow in importance and the team have maximised their effectiveness while still delivering the essential feeling of overall control to the riders – a fine balance but something that is a particular skill of the factory, team and technical partners. The KRT KX450-SR riders have at their fingertips, electronic launch control for race starts, traction control and switchable ignition maps all activated and monitored from the onboard Motec ECU.
Rolling once more on grip hungry and precise Dunlop tyres – and supported by numerous technical and product sponsors – the KRT KX450-SR has proved to be a race winner. Now the challenge for Febvre and Seewer is to get the mighty SR across the line ahead of the following pack to secure both race and championship dominance.