KAWASAKI COMPETITIONS Manager, Michael Bartholemy has said that the third Kawasaki in MotoGP option has now been given the go-ahead by his factory bosses. He also pointed out that although the contract with Ducati refugee Marco Melandri has still to be signed, the move is imminent.
He said: "We are very close to confirming Marco Melandri for the future. Tomorrow morning I hope that we will have the signature of our president, so that we can announce the deal as soon as possible.
"He´s a rider that I was looking for since last year, and I hope that this deal can happen. He will be very welcome here. For the third bike, the idea of all the parties involved is very clear. The money is there, the president has given the green light; many things are moving along positively. We don´t yet have the financial signature from Kawasaki, because people from other sections are also involved and they had small concerns about whether we could supply on a high level.
"There will be some internal meetings, and we will have a final answer from the middle to the end of next week."
The third bike is likely to be run by Jorge Martinez Aspar as a separate, one rider team.
