SBK Catalunya | Page 58

JONATHAN REA : Two Sons , Jake and Tyler .
EXCITING CONTENT
When you ’ re single , most racers are very selfish . Most people have their friends , an assistant , and a girlfriend or a wife , but you ’ re still very selfish . With kids , you can ’ t be that selfish . I was brought up around bikes and my parents were very strong with me and I really believe in family values . So , I want to be a good dad . I want to be around for the kids . So , sometimes there ’ s the guilt feeling when you ’ re away too much . I get that a lot . It was very easy in the early days . The kids were young , so you can drag them around the world like a backpack . They don ’ t need to go to school . There ’ s no schedule . Once they were hard , logistically , and sometimes inconvenient because they were babies and it was hard , when they were there . But now they have their own lives . They ’ ve got school , things they have to do . Young Jake ’ s first competitive football league game is on Saturday ( during the Magny Cours weekend ). I feel really bad that I ’ m missing that . He loves riding motocross , but I don ’ t trust anybody else to take him racing , so that ’ s been completely sacrificed this year . So , there ’ s lots of stuff . Being a dad , you have to make big decisions , but at the end , it ’ s very selfish . I was lucky enough with both kids , pre-COVID they were able to enjoy a lot of my racing career and enjoy good moments as well . Hopefully , next season things will be a bit back to normal and they can enjoy it . They ’ ll be 8 and 6 next year , which I hope both the kids will remember when they ’ re adults being 8 and 6 . It ’ s very hard for me to remember being 6 , maybe even 8 . They might remember me racing , remember being at the paddock and remember things . So , hopefully I can make that bit of an impact on them there and they can remember stuff like that .”
CHAZ DAVIES : A baby Daughter , 15 months old
“ It is absolutely fantastic she is a little sweetheart . I get a bit less sleep but her routine is pretty consistent . I am lucky to be able to do what I am able to do . I am lucky in that I have a very , very , very supportive wife , that enables me to take care of a lot of things and let me get on with my job . Without that , it would be very difficult . I am lucky . The baby is brilliant . It gets better and better . She ’ s 15 months now , so we ’ re absolutely loving it . Life is pretty different , I ’ d say . A bit different responsibilities at certain times , but luckily I ’ ve got a supportive wife and she lets me still go and trials ride with the boys , end up in the bar afterwards and doesn ’ t give me a hard time about it . I ’ m lucky there .”
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