Kawasaki will remain in the IDM Superbike 1000 class in 2022, and Emil Weber will continue as team manager. The Swiss national had been mulling over whether to continue his involvement for weeks. “I’d lost my enthusiasm,” he admitted publicly. The signing of Bastien Mackels and his longstanding ties to Kawasaki Germany changed his mind.
“If I had pulled the plug, it would all have been over,” the 55-year-old motorcycle dealer realizes, and he sees the German importer’s ongoing support of the Kawasaki Weber-Motos Racing Team as a “thank you for our work and for believing in us.” The signing of Bastien Mackels finally convinced Weber to change his mind about retiring. “If someone I’ve always wanted to work with comes along, then of course we’ll keep going,” he had left the door open just a little wider. Mackels finished on the podium three times in 2021 and placed seventh overall in the premier class.
Following its successful season in the IDM Superbike 1000, Kawasaki intends to remain competitive. Valentin Debise of France led the “Green Team” to victory on the ZX-10RR at Most in 2021 and secured two additional podium finishes. Now, however, it’s Mackels’ turn to take the reins—a 36-year-old with extensive experience. The Belgian will receive brand-new equipment that was actually supposed to have been ready for the start, but there wasn’t enough time for test runs during the last season. Now they are scheduled to take place in Spain in February and March 2022. Mackels is expected to regularly storm the podium in the Superbike class, with a top-5 finish in the championship being the goal. The crew at Kawasaki Weber Motos-Racing remains unchanged with Kurt and Doris Stückle, Francois Brucker, and Matthias Neukirchen. New to the team is data recording specialist Jens Schulze. Mackels brought him over to Kawasaki from his previous team.