[1][2] The bike made its debut towards the end of the 2002 MotoGP season with riders Andrew Pitt (Australia) and Akira Yanagawa (Japan).

[3][4] In 2004, Shinya Nakano joined the Kawasaki team and got the ZX-RR's first podium with a third place at the Japanese Grand Prix.

[5][6] The bike earned second place over the next three years: in 2005 with Olivier Jacque at the Chinese Grand Prix;[7] in 2006 with Nakano at the Dutch TT;[8] and in 2007 with Randy de Puniet at the Japanese Grand Prix.

[9] The ZX-RR struggled in 2008, with the best results[citation needed] being two fifth-place finishes from John Hopkins in Portugal and Anthony West in Brno.

[10][11] Hopkins and West blamed both a lack of feeling in the front end and rear traction on corner exit, a complaint Marco Melandri also had in 2009.