The Kawasaki PR team have had a busy couple of days with Tommy Searle confirming a contract extension for 2012 (even if the first line of the press release says he’ll be part of the GP team for another two years) and Christophe Pourcel comes out of the American wilderness to return to the FIM World Championship.

With Searle and Max Anstie set for MX2 for 2012 (Searle will run his last year in the class before becoming too old with the 23 year ruling) Kawasaki will have their emphasis on the category firmly established which means they then need to organise their MX1 representation through the factory Kawasaki Racing Team set-up. Pourcel has been granted his GP redemption at CLS thanks to Ben Townley’s withdrawal from racing and it remains to be seen whether he could be ever be an official rider for KRT in 2012. There are many factors still to be considered: form, desire and the matter of the Pourcel’s former family relationship with the team that recently ended with father Roger leaving the set-up.

Of course Pourcel could easily stay with CLS…but this increases the need further for KRT to step-up to the plate; the team haven’t won a GP since 2008.

It seems that current incumbent Jonathan Barragan has fallen out of favour but the Spaniard does have the luxury of carrying worth in his home market thanks to the relative dearth of fellow countrymen anywhere near the front of a GP pack. If Barragan does continue in Green then it will be from the confines of a satellite team (and from the low-pressure kind of operation the national champion shone with KTM in 2009) and a place that can welcome his strong Red Bull association.

Xavier Boog – the 2011 French Champion – is well-liked by KRT but is not the championship contender the brand are searching for.

On the bright side for Kawasaki their bond with Pro Circuit is a powerful association and the first of its kind with a racing behemoth across the Atlantic. Searle will automatically be a championship favourite for 2012 with Ken Roczen set for the USA (and the Brit could still rock the boat in 2011), Anstie will only get quicker and Pourcel will gather plenty of publicity even if his speed does not reach the same level as his title-term of 2006 in the half dozen GPs left this season.