Kawasaki's MotoGP riders John Hopkins and Marco Melandri will have to wait until February next year before they get their hands on the finished 2009 ZX-RR.

Hopkins, who finished today's Sepang MotoGP race in 11th after experiencing rear traction problems, has complained of front-end problems all year and but Kawasaki's engineers claim they have found a solution - with one race left.

Competition manager Michael Bartholemy said: "We know that with better rear traction both riders would be a lot closer to the front of the race, and we have made improvements in this area, but there is clearly still more work to do.

"The important thing is that our engineers have a clear idea of the causes, so I'm confident that a solution will be found. But, with only one race left this season, it may be that, realistically, we won't see the benefits of the work done this season until Kawasaki roll out the all-new 2009 bike in February.

"In the meantime, I hope that we can go out on a high with two good results from John and Anthony next weekend in Valencia. They both deserve it after all their hard work this year."