GPKR Team End Racing Relationship With Kevin Strijbos

World Championship winning motocross team Grand Prix Kawasaki Racing have decided to
release MX1 rider Kevin Strijbos two races prior to the end of the 2008 GP season
It’s been a troublesome and difficult season for MX1 title contender Kevin Strijbos as the Grand Prix
Kawasaki Racing team rider struggled to get race fit after being plagued with injury after injury. This has
left him unmotivated and struggling to get back to race winning pace despite the best efforts of both the
GPKR and KRT teams who have worked together to provide him with GP-winning machinery.

After missing much of the pre-season training and testing period with an injured shoulder Kevin went into
the first two GPs suffering with a lack of race fitness. Then after undergoing some surgery he sat on the
sidelines for most of the mid-season before attempting to make a race comeback in August. After making
an unsatisfactory return to world championship competition at the Irish GP, the fully-focussed GPKR team
and the decidedly unmotivated Strijbos have decided to part ways rather than continue racing with less
than satisfying results.

"We’re sorry to have experienced an injury-ridden season with Kevin,” said Kawasaki’s European Race
Planning Manager Steve Guttridge. “Having had off-season injuries that restricted his training potential
before the first round at Valkenswaard, Kevin struggled with confidence and bike set-up. He then injured
his hand during practice at round two of the series in Spain and this spelt an early end to his season
before it had really begun.

“You can now see that in the MX1 class the level of competition has been raised so high that any one of
10 riders can win a Grand Prix, it is fair to say that if Kevin was fit he could be one of those riders but
unfortunately that is now not the case as he remained unmotivated despite the very best combined efforts
of Kawasaki’s factory MX1 teams – GPKR and KRT. Kevin has been unable to turn his season around
and with that in mind we prefer to end Kevin’s racing activities now before any negative feelings arise
between the parties involved.”