WSBK – World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike – Used KAWASAKI

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World champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

This year again, Jonathan Rea was the strongest: the "Number One" of the World Superbike won a sixth title in a row during the final in Estoril (Portugal). With his teammate Alex Lowes and his colleague Xavi Fores, he also secured Kawasaki a sixth constructor title..

His teammate Tom Sykes on an identical Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, his competitors Chaz Davies, Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding on Ducati Panigale V2 then V4 … Whatever their weapon, their talent and their motivation, the adversaries of Jonathan Rea n can’t overthrow it !

  • World Superbike 2020 :
  • MNC special file :

Last year, however, the "rookie" Bautista had succeeded in making doubt the "god" Rea by winning the first eleven races of the season. Surprisingly patient and perfectly diligent, the "Number One" then gleaned the second places, before cracking the Spanish n ° 19..

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

In 2020, the throne had started to waver from the opening round in Australia. Jostled by Sykes at the start of the very first race, Rea had made a mistake when he tried to reach the outposts. He took revenge the next day in the Superpole race (victory) but lost in the second round to his new teammate Alex Lowes … Hard to swallow, no ?

This short "defeat" against Alex Lowes, Jonathan Rea had time to ruminate on it: the coronavirus stopped the world championship for five long months! Once relaunched, the WorldSBK fortunately gave rise to a magnificent showdown between the world champion in (5) title (s) and the British Superbike champion, Scott Redding. !

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

Faster and more consistent than his new opponent, the ruthless "JR" gradually left him behind, as the meetings progressed, until he landed last week in Estoril with a 59-point lead. Each WSBK event involving 62 points (only "Jonny" had a full card this season, in Portimao), the title was almost over.

Under pressure all the same, the two best enemies of the World Superbike 2020 fell in Superpole: highside at the start of the session on Saturday noon for n ° 45 Ducati and lowside in stride for n ° 1! Less than three hours later, they set off respectively unusual 22nd and 15th places in the first round…

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

Victim of a technical glitch on his Panigale from the 6th loop, Redding has definitely seen his minimal hopes of world crowning evaporate. Raised to second place at the controls of his Ninja, Rea is not finally on the podium but it doesn’t matter: he remains on the throne !

WSBK Champion 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020

"I am confused, I can not even think back to everything that happened", raves the Northern Irish pilot in wearing his sixth Superbike crown putting on his sixth ring, just like American footballers in the Superbowl finals !

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

"This season has been an incredible journey," observes Jonathan. A phenomenal tour de force also on the part of the organizers to whom Rea pays homage in the first place: "I would like to thank WorldSBK, Dorna, all the circuits and the organizers for having maintained the competition this year".

Certainly, "compared to what everyone has endured in 2020, the sport still seems secondary," puts the happy father into perspective, "but we managed to run. I miss the fans, my family and my friends too, so that all the support I get from my home in Northern Ireland ". Roll on 2021 and / or the end of the pandemic !

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

Rea assures us that the encouragement of his relatives and supporters has enabled him, once again, to surpass himself and beat his competitors: "We started late like last year, but we never gave up. was a hell of a trip and I am really happy ", he concludes.

Falling the next day in the middle of a fight against Toprak Razgatlioglu, Rea got back on his battered machine to finish the final race of the season at all costs. Proof if necessary of the persistence of this exceptional champion: his sixth title in a row hoists him between Rossi (5 titles in a row in GP500 / MotoGP, 9 in all) and Agostini (7 in a row in GP350 and as much in GP500, 15 in total).

WSBK - World Champions: Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki pass the six in Superbike - Used KAWASAKI

Fourteenth in the second Portuguese round, Rea scored two annecdotal points for himself and for his employer … Ironically, moreover, Kawasaki’s constructor title (sixth in a row too) was not sealed by its n ° 1 driver, nor by n ° 22 (fallen), but by n ° 12 !

It is to Xavi Fores, member of the private Kawasaki Puccetti team – who decided to bring Lucas Mahias from the WSSP to the WSBK next year – that the Akashi Greens owe their final victory over Ducati: 392 points to 391! Yamaha completes the podium with 330 points, double Honda (166 pts), triple BMW (101) … and much more than Aprilia who participated in only three events with Christophe Ponsson.

Only the title of world champion team escapes Kawasaki: the KRT and its Rea / Lowes duo – renewed for 2021) accumulate 549 points at the end of this not-so-funny 2020 season, against 578 for Redding and his team-mate Davies, winner of his last race in the official Ducati team, replaced next year by Michael Rinaldi.

Video: Rea and Kawasaki, six-fold WSBK champions

Documentary: Jonathan Rea and the WorldSBK 2020 season

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