Innovations and Community
Innovation is hard-wired into the A-Ward business culture.
Simon Ward, along with fellow Kiwis Richard Assen (rider and engine builder) and Jason Swan (bike builder and tuner), worked on transforming an original Suzuki Hayabusa production bike into a veritable flying machine.
Every Solution Can Be Improved On
The team broke a number of speed records in Australia and the USA. Striving for better, faster times, the bike’s performance was continuously measured, analyzed and optimized from every angle. Every aspect was redesigned and re-engineered to extract the greatest possible speed and aerodynamics.
In 2011 the real breakthrough came at the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. Ridden by Richard Assen, Team A-Ward set the Federation Internationale De Motocyclisme (FIM) world record for an open class motorcycle with a speed of 420.429 km/h or 261.243 mph, shattering the previous record of 253 mph.
The A-Ward team now holds four international speed records.
This A-Ward racing partnership has enabled us to contribute innovative engineering, problem-solving and commercial skills to generate greater speed and aerodynamics.
As naming-right sponsors, the partnership continues to provide an exciting vehicle to showcase our engineering and innovation skills on the world stage.
Project Jonah
During regular visits to Deborah Ward’s family near Nelson, New Zealand, the Ward family noticed the high number of whales stranding off New Zealand’s Farewell Spit. Growing up in the area, Deb remembers countless, but often futile whale rescue marathons; hence ‘project whale lifter’ was born.
With A-Ward’s mantra of ‘every problem has a solution’, Simon and Deborah have embarked on this challenging project of passion. The project is still in its early stages, with the team undertaking extensive research around different whale species, habitats, how to handle them correctly and most common stranding locations.
Combining A-Ward technology and outside-the-box thinking, this solution will see stranded whales harnessed and safely lifted back into the ocean.
