Kawasaki recently launched a particularly audacious and original promotional operation in the United States, the Zero to Hero Challenge. The operation consisted in selecting a candidate to compete with the undisputed American dragster motorcycle star, Rickey Gadson, the final event to be broadcast on Speed TV in July. To begin, candidates had to submit an essay entitled 'Why I am qualified to race Rickey Gadson'. Out of the 3,000+ essays received, entrants were painstakingly whittled down to 8 semi-finalists by Kawaski, combined with personal phone interviews of the top 20 conducted by Rickey Gadson himself. The eight were then judged by the public via the Kawasaki.com website. The top four vote receivers were the finalists.
These fortunate four then travelled to Las Vegas to attend a two-day Rickey Gadson Drag Racing School where they learnt the rudiments of acceleration racing aboard slammed and stretched Kawasaki ZX-14Rs. They then had to pass the NHRA tests to qualify for their licence to be competitors, and to do so they brilliantly managed to cross the 400 metre track in under 10.15 seconds!
Last, the four finalists raced each other and the winner faced off against nine-time champion Rickey Gadson for the key to a brand new ZX-14R to take home. The results are now kept confidential until the programme is broadcast. Stay tuned!
