R.I.P. Team Kawasaki

A Salute to Team Green

Whether you bleed blue, yellow or red, every ATV rider lost a friend when Kawasaki announced late last year it would no longer fund an ATV motocross effort. That meant no more factory Kawasaki riders. No more big, green semi in the pro pits. And one less sponsor amateur ATV motocross racers could aspire to ride pro for.

The loss of Kawasaki will make a big impact on the sport come round one in Alabama at the end of March. As team manager, legendary ATV racer Jimmy White put together a professional effort that came close to winning a championship last season.

Maybe they pulled the ATV motocross effort because not enough KFX450Rs were selling. Maybe they couldn't afford it with having to pay Ryan Villopoto and Chad Reed to race the KX450F. Perhaps Kawasaki should have developed their sport ATV more into a motocross-ready racer like Yamaha, Can-Am, KTM and Suzuki have done.

Whatever the reason, I thought I would pay tribute to Kawasaki one last time for the efforts they made in fielding a competitive pro ATV motocross team. Here's hoping the Kawasaki rig will return to the ATV nationals some day soon.

No more factory Kawasaki mechanics will be spinning wrenches on pro quads, at least for now.

Count 'em. One, two, three Kawasaki guys cheering on their pro rider. This will be a scene sadly missed.

Say goodbye to Kawasaki support riders like Russell Shumaker.

Don't expect to see too many close battles this year, even in the pro-am classes. Not even the amateurs have an incentive to ride green, unless they have half a dozen left-over race quads from last year, which is unlikely.

Perhaps the saddest fact of all. Don't look for the 2010 ATV Motocross champion to win it all on a green machine.