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Following is a breakdown of results from Kawasaki riders over the years in the World Superbikes championship.
1988 Kawasaki riders secure 4 podiums, Adrien Morillas won at Hungaroring. Eric Delcamp a 2nd, Rob Phillis two 3rds (one at Manfeild)
1989 Another 4 podiums. Two 2nd placings for Kawasaki during the '89 season, Aaron Slight (Manfeild) and Rob Phillis (Oran park). Phillis also had two 3rds (Sugo and Oran park)
1990 Doug Chandler had 4 podiums this year, a win and a 3rd at Sugo, and the same at Brainerd. Rob Phillis had 5 podiums, wins at Phillip Island (Michael Dowson finishing 3rd) and Manfeild (Aaron Slight finishing 3rd), two 2nds at Shah Alam, and a 3rd at Osterreichring finishing 4th overall at seasons end.
1991 Rob Phillis had best overall finishing position again for Kawasaki in 1991 at 3rd, after 8 podium finishes (five 2nds and three 3rds). Aaron Slight took two 3rds, Scott Russell two 2nds (both at Brainerd) and Steve Crevier had a 3rd at home at Mosport.
1992 Slight won the series opening race at Albacete Spain but was then sent to Japan for Suzuka-8-hour testing so missed the following races. The ZXR750 was the only bike to present a challenge to the dominant Ducati 888's at the time. That season Slight ended up 6th overall.
1993 Scott Russell wins the championship for Kawasaki, the first and only world Superbike victory for the company. During the season he had 5 wins (Donnington, Sugo, Brno and Hockenheim), 12 2nds and a 3rd leaving 2nd place overall for Carl Fogerty and 3rd going to Russell's Kawsaki teammate Aaron Slight. Fogerty actually had more wins during the year but Russell finished more consistantly overall. It was a great season for team green with Piergiorgio Bontempi finishing 6th overall after a 2nd in Estoril and a 3rd at Albacete.
1994 Scott Russell won both races at Sugo, Donington and Hockenheim, and one race at each of Mugello, Brands Hatch and Misano.
1995 Anthony Gobert won two races (Phillip Island and Laguna Seca), took two 2nds (Salisburg and Laguna Seca) and two 3rds (Salisburg and Brands Hatch) to finish the season 4th overall and best placed Kawasaki rider.
1996 Anthony Gobert had three wins (two at Phillip Island and one at Laguna Seca) a 2nd at Brands Hatch and two 3rds at Donnington to finish the season 8th overall. Kiwi Simon Crafar joined team Kawasaki and finished 7th overall after a 2nd place at Donnington during the season.
1997 Akira Yanagawa signed for Harald Eckl's new Team Fuchs Kawasaki joining kiwi Simon Crafar riding a new and improved factory machine. Yanagawa won at Zetlweg and Sugo and had three 2nd place finished at Sentul, Zeltweg Hockenheim in a season where he a lot of bad luck with falls (including a serious crash at Laguna Seca), but still ended up a respectful 4th overall at season end. Crafar finished 5th overall after a 2nd and 3rd at Sugo, the same at Albacete, two 3rds at Phillip Island and a 3rd at Donnington. He almost won in Indonesia in the final round, but was knocked out by Kocinski in a crash.
1998 a less succesful season for Kawasaki, Yanagawa had two 2nd places (Sugo and Laguna seca) and he finished 7th overall in a season won by Fogarty with Aaron Slight a close 2nd on a Honda.
1999 was a great year for Yanagawa with a win and 2nd at Sugo, two 2nds at Albacete and a handful of 3rds at Hockenheim, Laguna Seca, Misano Adriatico and Nurburgring ending the season 5th overall.
2000 Another good result for Kawasaki with Yanagawa taking three 3rds and two 2nds (Assen and Hockenheim ) during the season finishing 5th overall again. Teammate Gregorio Lavilla had a 2nd at Oschersleben and Hitoyasu Izutsu won both races at Sugo.
2001 The last year the ZX7R was to appear on the WSB podium, Akira Yanagawa had two 3rds (at Monza), Gregorio Lavilla had two 3rds (Misano and Valencia), Hitoyasu Izutsu had a 2nd and 3rd at Sugo, and Serizawa Tamaki also had a 3rd placing at Sugo. Akira finished 9th overall this season, the best placed of the Kawasaki entries.
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