Kawasaki formally announced its 2010 U.S. off-road racing effort today at its headquarters in Irvine, Southern California. The announcement comes on the eve of the 2010 Monster Energy Supercross series which gets underway Saturday at Angels Stadium. Absent from this year’s event was its street bike contingent, as Team Green has decided not to participate in the U.S. national championship due to the unfavorable state of affairs within the AMA/DMG motorcycle road racing series.

Supercross

The 450 Motocross class will be represented by reigning AMA Motocross champ Chad Reed and Ryan Villopoto. Reed joins the team after racing a successful year racing Suzukis. Our new Contributing Editor, Shan Moore, caught up with him earlier in this Chad Reed Pre-Season SX Interview. It’s a good one, make sure to give it a read.
 
Villopoto returns to the same team and class after a fairly successful rookie year last year, marred only by a knee injury at the start of the outdoor season. Both will be piloting Kawasaki’s revamped 2010 Kawasaki KX450F (learn more about it in our 2010 Kawasaki KX450F First Ride).

In the Lites class, Kawasaki is running a total of five riders. Jake Weimer and Josh Hansen will be racing the West Coast series, while Christophe Pourcel, Tyla Rattray, and Dean Wilson will tackle the East Coast series, which begins next month in Indianapolis. Additionally, Hansen might race select 450 rounds depending on how his season goes. All the Lites-class guys will be competing on the 2010 Kawasaki KX250F, which we tested earlier this year during the 2010 Kawasaki KX250F First Ride.

During the even we spoke to Rattray and Wilson who are 100-percent healthy and ready to ride. Rumor had it that Wilson was still nursing an injury, but, the 17-year-old rookie squashed it. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Pourcel who recently broke his collarbone during a practice crash. Team manager, Mitch Payton, said that Christophe will be ready to go by the start of the East Coast.

Off-Road

In the realm of hardcore two-wheeled off-road racing, Kawasaki will be fielding three riders. Returning to the team once again is desert expert Destry Abbott who is coming off a 2009 season that saw the five-time AMA Hare and Hound champion take on some new challenges in Baja. Abbott also has three ISDE gold medals to his credit and will be tackling three racing series for 2010 including the AMA Hare and Hound series, World Off-Road Championship Series (WORCS) and Endurocross. All-around dirt bike ace Ricky Dietrich is also slated to contest the WORCS and Endurocross series, and, hopefully will get a chance to race select Supercross rounds in the 450 class. After his top-five performances in the outdoor Nationals last summer, it’s a safe bet that he’ll make a few appearances on the moto track to keep his skills sharp. Justin Soule is the newcomer to Team Green’s off-road squad after finishing third in WORCS on the factory KTM team. Like Dietrich, the 20-year-old from Reno, NV will also compete in the WORCS and Endurocross.