Featuring new riders, new team management, a new race truck, and 2010 model motorcycles, the Kawasaki Racing Team is confident of championship glory in 2010 with the announcement of its new team line-up.

Renowned international import Billy Mackenzie will spearhead to team in the Open class at the Australian Motocross and Australasian Super X Championships, joined by Cody Mackie, who will represent KRT in the Pro Lites class at both championships, and young sensation Luke Arbon, who goes into his second year with KRT in the Under 19s class.

Steering the ship for the new year is new team principal Kevin Crutcher and new team manager Troy Carroll, both formerly of the Cool Air Kawasaki Race Team.

KRT has also signed Cool Air Conditioning on board as a major sponsor of the team, joining existing major sponsors No Fear and Michelin.

Hailing from Edinburgh, Scotland, 25-year-old Mackenzie is a comfortable top ten rider in World MX1 GPs in Europe. He was the British MX Champion in the 450 class in 2007 and 2008 and was a triple Japenese GP winner from 2005-2007. Billy has been a MX2 GP round winner in Europe and finished the 2005 MX2 Championship in sixth place overall.

“Everything’s going to plan so far – I’ve been in Australia now since November and the training has been going well,” said Mackenzie. “I feel really good within myself and feel like the speed is there. I’m really looking forward to racing. The KX450F is amazing in standard form. We haven’t done that much to it, it doesn’t need a lot of changes. We’re just working a bit on the suspension at the moment. I’ve been pushing it hard and feel very comfortable on it. I’m loving Australia. The weather is in the minuses back home at the moment so it’s nice to be training here. The tracks are good and the people are cool.”

Fresh back in the country after three months of extensive training with the world’s best riders in the USA, Mackie also looks forward to the new season.

“The time spent in the USA was well worth it. When you can ride everyday on a variety of top notch tracks. you can’t help but feel 100% motivated. I’d head to the gym each afternoon exhausted because of so much time spent on the bike,” he explained. “I learnt a lot over there and gained a lot of confidence. I was surrounded by good people over there like Michael Addison, Dan Reardon and Gilmour who helped me out so much and the support from Kawasaki, both in Australia and the USA, has been excellent.”

Taking some very good results and national experience with him from 2009, 17-year-old Luke Arbon is full of optimism going into his second year with KRT.

“Preparation is going great and I can’t wait to race,” Arbon said. “I’ve been training really hard and feel very good. I learnt so much last year stepping up to the seniors and right now I feel a whole lot more confident than I did this time last year, so I can’t wait. The KX250F is great. We’ve got it pretty much perfect after only 3 days of testing so I’m very happy. ”

12-time Australian champion Carroll, who retired from racing at the end of 2009, will now take his many years of racing experience with him into his new role as team manager at KRT and looks forward to the challenge.

“The transition from rider to manager has been very smooth thanks to the support of the riders and team principal Kevin Crutcher,” Carroll said. “Although I was riding last year, I was still playing a managerial role within the Cool Air Kawasaki Race Team so I’m not totally thrown in the deep end. My job is made a lot easier thanks to having such a good product to start with in Kawasaki and extremely talented riders signed up.

“We’re really happy with how Billy’s going. He’s brought a lot to the team, especially in regards to the development of the KX450F and he’s a good role model for not only the other team riders but also all young riders. On the practice track he’s quick – very quick.

“Cody Mackie steps back into the Lites class after a successful year in the opens. The transition is not a major one for Cody as he is already a proven 250 rider. He’s a determined rider and a very strong chance at winning the championship.

“Luke Arbon has been up here in Toowoomba testing for the last few weeks and progressing really well. He has a real chance at winning the Championship this year. Actually all 3 riders are genuine threats to their respective Championships this year. We just can’t wait to go racing.”

KRT’s first race meeting for 2010 will be the opening round of the Australian Motocross Championship at Horsham, Victoria on 28 March.