In the most recent campaign - the last one before the arrival of a new World Sportbike category in 2026 - Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) and David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI Kawasaki) took the title fight to the very last corner of the last race at Jerez. Carter finished second overall and Salvador third, but more often than not in WorldSSP300 Kawasaki has come out on top each year, in whatever championship statistic or record is under discussion.
 
In the very first year of WorldSSP300, when the class was wildly oversubscribed to the point of needing elimination heats before racing took place, Kawasaki was on track with the original Ninja 300. The World Championship title did not quite come along in that first year, but three race wins were taken - two for Scott Deroue (MTM HS Kawasaki) and one for a certain Ana Carrasco (ETG Racing Kawasaki). Remember the name. 
 
Fast forward to the first year of the Ninja 400, in 2018, and there was a simply epic season for Carrasco, women in motorsport, Kawasaki and the profile of bike racing itself. In going from race winner the previous year to World Champion - by a single point - in the tricky final round at Magny Cours in 2018, Carrasco became the first woman to ever win a fully open FIM road racing championship.
 
In short, she beat all the boys and men she raced against with her DS Junior Team Kawasaki. This single act of sporting prowess arguably focused more attention on motorcycle racing in general than anything that had gone before her. Ana, for a period, was truly swimming in mainstream attention. None who witnessed Ana’s feat of arms will ever forget it, nor should they.
 
She won two races in her championship year, and Kawasaki riders combined to secure four wins in all. Kawasaki won the Manufacturers’ title by some margin that season - the first of seven such titles in all.
 
In 2019 it was the turn of Manuel Gonzalez (yes, the Moto2 points leader at time of press) to win the WorldSSP300 championship inside the Kawasaki ParkinGO team. Three wins for him and six between the others saw no less than three Kawasaki riders - Gonzalez, Deroue and Carrasco - head up the table in a very dominant season. Four Kawasaki racers in all won nine of the ten races in 2019, turning the world green in a profound fashion. Kawasaki won the Constructors’ Title again, as you might expect given the aforementioned race statistics. There were two races per round, for the first time, which also made a difference.
 
The 2020 season delivered a first WorldSSP300 championship to the most successful individual race winner and champion of all time, Jeffrey Buis. There were 11 Kawasaki wins that year and another Constructors’ Championship. This was the first Riders’ Championship victory for the Benelux-based MTM Motoport squad, and not the last. They also won the Teams’ Championship, in the first year that it moved into a new level of public perception.
 
Adrian Huertas joined the MTM Motoport Kawasaki Team in 2021 and in another very strong year for Kawasaki, he took the championship at the head of fully three other Kawasaki riders, all of whom won races - Tom Booth-Amos, Buis and Samuel di Sora. Ana Carrasco also stuck a win onto her career total in 2021, and it was to be her seventh and final one. Kawasaki was once again top manufacturer. There were 13 race wins in all for Kawasaki that year.
 
In 2022 there was no Kawasaki Riders’ Championship but the late, great Victor Steeman, Hugo de Cancellis, Di Sora and Yuta Okaya all won races, with Steeman winning no less than four. Despite great and continuing efforts to make this sport as safe as possible, motorcycle racing has some real risks that cannot be taken away completely. Victor, a true talent and a beloved member of his MTM Kawasaki team and the paddock in general, was killed in a racing accident at the final round of the year.
 
After a winter of reflection and preparation, WorldSSP300 reconvened in 2023 and it proved to be another strong one for the MTM set-up. Buis won his second championship, by just seven points, in a year in which Kawasaki again won the Constructors’ Championship, and by a bit more than seven points due to the efforts of many Ninja 400 riders. Buis won four races, while Peter Svoboda (2), Bruno Ieraci (2) and new boy Loris Veneman all won races. Nine of the possible 16 were secured on a Kawasaki.
 
Kawasaki won ten races in 2024, but not the Riders’ title. MTM Kawasaki rider Loris Veneman came awfully close, and won two races. Inigo Iglesias won three, as did MTM rider Mirko Gennai while Daniel Mogeda secured two. The Riders’ title proved elusive but once again Kawasaki won the Manufacturers equivalent.
 
Kawasaki would, as you have no doubt found out, win the 2025 Manufacturer’s Championship but not the Riders’ One. But, like we said at the beginning, it was pretty close on the last ever year. Prodina XCI Kawasaki won the Teams’ Championship, from - who else? - the MTM squad.
 
Since the beginning of the WorldSSP300 championship, all those years ago in 2017, Kawasaki Ninja 300/400s have won 72 races. All the other manufacturers combined have scored 48 wins in total. There have been 211 Kawasaki podium places, 59 fastest laps and 41 pole positions.
 
There have been five riders’ championships taken by Kawasaki competitors and seven Manufacturers’ championships have been secured.
 
WorldSSP300 will now make way for the larger capacity World Sportbike Championship in 2026, and Kawasaki will be supporting that class as passionately as they ever did WorldSSP300. More details on that soon.
 
Kawasaki WorldSSP300 Stats:
 
• FIM Supersport300 World Championship first started in 2017
• 2017 - three race wins were taken - two for Scott Deroue (MTM HS Kawasaki) and one for Ana Carrasco (ETG Racing Kawasaki).
• Carrasco - the first woman to win a fully open FIM road racing championship in 2018
• Carrasco won two races in 2018
• In 2018 Kawasaki riders combined to secure four wins in all.
• 2018 -  Kawasaki won the Manufacturers’ title - the first of seven such titles in all.
• 2019 Manuel Gonzalez won the WorldSSP300 championship inside the Kawasaki ParkinGO team
• 2019 Gonzalez won Three times
• 2019 six other Kawasaki rider wins
• Four Kawasaki racers won nine of the ten races in 2019
• Kawasaki won the Constructors’ Title in 2019 for the second time
• 2020 delivered a first WorldSSP300 championship to Jeffrey Buis
• There were 11 Kawasaki wins in 2020 and another Constructors’ Championship
• 2020 was the first Riders’ Championship victory for the Benelux-based MTM Motoport squad,
• MTM also won the Teams’ Championship in 2020
• Adrian Huertas joined MTM Motoport Kawasaki Team in 2021 and took the championship at the head of three other Kawasaki riders, all of whom won races - Tom Booth-Amos, Buis and Samuel di Sora
• Ana Carrasco also stuck a win onto her career total in 2021, and it was to be her seventh and final one in the class
• Kawasaki was once again top manufacturer in 2021.
• There were 13 race wins in all for Kawasaki in 2021
• In 2022 Victor Steeman, Hugo de Cancellis, Di Sora and Yuta Okaya all won races, with Steeman winning four
• 2023 Buis won his second championship
• 2023 Kawasaki again won the Constructors’ Championship
• 2023 Buis won four races, while Peter Svoboda (2), Bruno Ieraci (2) and Loris Veneman all won races.
• 2023 Nine of the possible 16 race wins  were secured on a Kawasaki.
• Kawasaki won ten races in 2024
• 2024 Kawasaki won the Manufacturers title
• 2025 Manufacturer’s Championship for Kawasaki
• Since the beginning of the WorldSSP300 championship in 2017, Kawasaki Ninja 300/400s have won 72 races. -  scored 48 wins in total. There have been 211 Kawasaki podium places, 59 fastest laps and 41 pole positions.
• 7 manufacturers championships