Seeing Green Across the Globe

Seeing Green Across the Globe

MAY 7, 2013: Riders of the distinctive lime green Kawasaki motorcycles topped the podium on opposite sides of the world at the weekend.

On Saturday evening in Las Vegas, Washington State rider Ryan Villopoto held aloft the trophy for winning the United States Supercross Championships for a second consecutive season, an accomplishment that really had seemed inevitable from the moment he started his dominating run at the second round of the 17-event series back in January.

His season kicked off unfavourably at Anaheim, in California, in January, the defending champion from 2012 finishing an unaccustomed 16th in a crash-marred race.

But from the next weekend onward, there was no stopping Villopoto or his Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450F.

Of the remaining 16 rounds, Villopoto won 10 of them and finished runner-up in all but two of the other six events.

While Villopoto capped his supercross campaign with victory at the Las Vegas finale, fellow Kawasaki ace Gautier Paulin was savouring champagne at round six of the World Motocross Championships in Portugal.

It was the second consecutive overall victory for the Factory Kawasaki Team rider in the premier MX1 class and it consolidated his ranking at No.2 in the championship chase, keeping him in the hunt to close down on the series leader, defending world champion Antonio Cairoli, of Italy.

Brimming with confidence after his victory two weeks earlier in Bulgaria, the 23-year-old Paulin took his Kawasaki KX450F to win the opening MX1 class race at the circuit in Agueda and then backed that up with a strong second placing in the next outing.

The result strengthened his position and sees the Kawasaki ace reduce his deficit on Cairoli to 38 points with 11 rounds of the series remaining.

Just a week earlier, at Assen, in the Netherlands, a Kawasaki man was topping the podium at a road-race, Englishman Tom Sykes (Ninja ZX-10R) winning round three of the World Superbike Championships.

Sykes finished 1-2 in his two races at Assen, while his Kawasaki Racing Team mate Loris Baz, of France, pushed to take a fifth and then a first dry podium on his Ninja ZX-10R.

Sykes is now ranked second equal in the world standings, just behind Sylvain Guintoli, of France.

ENDS

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