Jonathan Rea
I
t has been quite a year already for two time Superbike World
Champion Jonathan Rea as he looks to defend his title. He
currently sits clear at the top of the standings with 341 points
with his nearest rival, Kawasaki teammate, Tom Sykes, well
behind with just 282 points.
It is difficult to see him letting his
lead slip as he looks to make it three in a
row and Sport in profile Magazine takes
a look at Jonathan Rea’s journey to the
top.
He started out early and at the age
of ten gave a sign of his potential when
he won the British 60cc motorcross
championship in 1997. In 2005, he
started to turn his potential into results
as he secured his first pole position in the
British Superbike class before making
the transition into the World Supersport
championship in 2008.
In his first year he settled quickly,
coming second in the Championship
and winning three races along the way
to underline his talent. Rea continued
to develop, making the step up to the
Superbike class, coming fifth overall in
2009 and looked to be on target for a top
three finish overall the following year
before injury saw him drop down to
fourth.
Between 2011 and 2013 Rea’s career
was disrupted by some serious injuries
but he was able to show his tenacity,
picking up some impressive results
when he was able to compete.
He put his injury problems behind
him in 2014, proving that he was one of
the top riders around as he consistently
produced strong results including four
wins and five other podium places to
secure third place overall, his best finish
in the Superbike class. At the end of the
year he brought an end to his association
with Honda, making the move to the
Kawasaki Racing Team.
The new partnership hit the ground
running as Rea won his first race of the
season in Australia and this was a sign of
things to come. He continued to dominate
the Championship and was able to clinch
his first World Championship with three
rounds left to go. It was a fantastic season
for Rea as he racked up fourteen wins,
twenty three podiums and an incredible
total of 548 points which was close to the
all-time record.
He then came into the 2016
Championship looking to defend his
crown and had built up a commanding
lead by the summer break. Things
became a lot closer in the second half of
the season and the Championship was
eventually decided in the final round in
Qatar where Rea retained his title. This
triumph saw him become one of only
four riders to have secured back to back
world titles.
With the Championship race being
much closer in 2016, it seemed that
retaining the title in 2017 would be an
even harder task but Rea’s been up to the
challenge so far as he looks to continue
to add to his already great legacy. It
will certainly be exciting to see how his
career continues to progress.
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