EXCITING CONTENT
As is the way in motorcycle sport , some have arrived on our planet by happy fate , some are lifelong friends of the riders who have come along for the ride at the beginning and made a living out of it all nowadays . Some are even family members of the riders , and active riders in other championships themselves … Possibly the most visible Rider ’ s Assistant is Jonathan Rea ’ s long time helper and Motorhome driver , Kevin Havenhand . Particularly visible not just because he is as close to Jonathan in practice sessions and races as social distancing rules allow , but because he is a very tall bloke in real life , and seemingly always on the screen because JR is a six-times champion . The camera follows that kind of form , of course , Kev , as he his known to Jonathan and all , had a very different career path in mind when left school in England , but it was still a path that needed dedication and focus . And a good aim would have been useful too … “ To cut a long story short I spent 26 years in the British Army ,” said Kev . “ I was commissioned through the ranks . I went as high as I could as a soldier and then got commissioned to Captain .” Eventually not being able to go on operational tours after being a ‘ hands-on ’ solder for so long , Kev grew bored in the desk job he inevitably had to do after promotion and got a bit disillusioned . An old army mate , who did and still does run hospitality units in BSB , gave Kev a call and there he was , working for the HM Plant Honda squad , and loving it . “ That was in 2007 and the riders for HM Plant that year were Ryuichi Kiyonari - and Jonathan Rea … Jonathan and I got on and at the end of the year he said , ‘ I am off to WorldSSP , do you want to come with me ?’ That ’ s the story .” Starting off as Jonathan ’ s Motorhome driver mostly , Kev ’ s restlessness waiting around to drive hime again on race weekends saw him ask Ronald Ten Kate if he had any jobs going in hospitality . He did , so Kev ’ s approach to a race weekend saw him setting up Jonathan ’ s motorhome on a Tuesday , working in the Ten Kate Honda hospitality all weekend , then packing up the motorhome on Monday , to head home or to the next race . When Jonathan and his wife Tatia got married , then had kids , she gave up the role she had as de-facto Rider Assistant and Kev stepped up in 2014 , Rea ’ s last year with Honda . That year he started doing all the flyaways with Jonathan and he became , as he said , “ his boots , gloves , lotions , potions , as well as moving his motorhome around .” With everything in racing so structured , and so many small details all having to be done when needed , changing weather or other challenges needing to be reacted to , Kev ’ s army experience can come in useful . “ The British Army works on drills , a drill for everything ,” said Kev . “ Jonathan likes everything the same - leathers , helmets , everything laid out exactly the same . Unless he wants to change things and tells me so , there is no deviation .” Kev literally takes care of all Jonathan ’ s stuff , from the fridge contents in the motorhome to what visors need to be ready in the garage . He is close to Rea and his family on many occasions , and spends so much time with him and his young family , but let us not forget this is work first . Kev is there for a reason , to be one of the people who helps Rea win as much as he does removing distractions or chores that could take up his time or headspace . “ Jonathan does not micro-manage me , or being ‘ the employer ’ he just sort of treats me as a friend knowing that I ’ m going to get the job done .” On the opposite end of the spectrum of how to end up in the same job but come from a very different direction , is Alvaro Bautista ’ s Rider Assistant , Mario . He and Alvaro are not just in an employer / employee duality - they grew up together in their home town of Talavera de la Reina , located to the west of Madrid . They were racing pocket bikes together , from about four years of age !
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