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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

12 Januar 2021

MTM Kawasaki completes a strong 2021 line-up with Meuffels, Okaya and Huertas

MTM Kawasaki is proud to present a strong rider line-up for the 2021 season. World champion Jeffrey Buis will be joined by Koen Meuffels, Yuta Okaya and Adrián Huertas who will also compete for MTM Kawasaki on the Kawasaki Ninja 400 in the World Supersport 300 championship.

MTM Kawasaki has already announced that reigning World Champion Jeffrey Buis will compete for the team in the World Supersport 300 category in 2021. Now the Belgium-based team can confirm a complete line-up of four riders for the coming season.

Koen Meuffels finished last season on a high note with a victory and a second place in Estoril. Because of these strong results, the Dutchman ended fourth in the final WorldSSP300 standings. The 26-year old rider would like to carry this form with him to the start of his second full season with MTM Kawasaki.

Yuta Okaya also stays in the team. The Japanese rider made a lot of progress in 2020 with a victory in Catalunya as a great highlight. The 21-year-old ended tenth in the championship and is determined to compete consistently at the top of the field in the 2021 season.

New at MTM Kawasaki is Andrián Huertas. The 17-year-old Spaniard rode in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2018 and 2019 and made his WorldSSP300 debut last season. With four top-ten finishes, he had a strong rookie year in the championship. In 2021 Huertas will hunt for good results on the MTM Kawasaki Ninja 400.

After four successful seasons, Scott Deroue will no longer be competing for MTM Kawasaki. Deroue finished twice as vice-world champion and twice as third in the WorldSSP300 championship. The team wishes Deroue all the best in his further career.

The WorldSSP300 championship 2021 will start at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands from 23 to 25 April.

Koen Meuffels: “After having such a good last weekend in 2020, I wanted to continue with MTM Kawasaki. The team feels like home. There is a good spirit, but they also work hard and professionally. The team and I feel that there is still room for improvement. That’s necessary to compete for the win every weekend and when we will do that, we also compete for the championship. With this idea we will start the 2021 season!”

Yuta Okaya: “I’m happy to stay with MTM Kawasaki in the WorldSSP300 for the 2021 season. I have a good feeling with the team and we learned a lot last year. We had some good results in 2020, but we want more. My target is to take the championship. This is my only goal for this season. I’m so looking forward to start racing again!”

Adrián Huertas: “I’m really happy to join MTM Kawasaki and first of all I want to say a big thank you to the entire team for this opportunity and to all the people who worked to make it happen. It’s a big chance for me to jump on board the winning Kawasaki bike and join the winning team from 2020, so I couldn’t be happier to be where I am. It will be my second season in the WorldSSP300 championship. I built up experience last year about how you have to race in this category and I think working together we will be able to have a really good year. I will continue training hard to be 100% prepared for the start of the season and my target is to give everything I have, everything we have, to try to be World Champions.”

Ludo Van der Veken [team owner]: "With Jeffrey, Koen, Yuta and Adrián, we have managed again to present a strong team of riders. Koen and Yuta already showed their value last year. The cooperation between the riders was excellent, which is also an important factor for success. I think Adrián, with his talent, is a great addition to the team. Of course, it’s a pity that we weren’t able to continue with Scott and I wish him all the best in his further career. The MTM goal is to match the fantastic results of last year. We’re going for it!”