Jonathan Rea reflects on 'super-sweet' World Superbike title triumph like no other

Following the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia at the very beginning of March, sport around the globe was brought to a standstill due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Rea admits he thought any prospects of racing again in 2020 were bleak at best, but the championship eventually resumed once again almost five months later, albeit with a condensed seven-round calendar based solely in Europe and strict new protocols in place to guard against the spread of coronavirus.

It was a so-called ‘new normal’, but some things never change.

As he has done since he made the move to Kawasaki in 2015, Rea overcame the obstacles in his way and fought off new challenger Scott Redding to be crowned world champion for a sixth time on Saturday at Estoril in Portugal.

“I look back to where it started in 2015 when I joined Kawasaki so it’s super-sweet,” said Rea, who finished fourth in race one after starting from 15th position on the grid when he crashed in qualifying.

“I’m just so grateful to be in this position and to have this opportunity with the Kawasaki Racing Team – they’ve been incredible and I couldn’t have imagined being here six or seven months ago, after crashing out of the first round of the championship [in race one at Phillip Island].

“Then during lockdown we didn’t know if we’d be going racing again and when I saw the calendar, if I could have picked any seven tracks to finish with it wouldn’t have been the seven we have raced at.

“They’re not the strongest tracks for me or my machine but we have done an incredible job as a team, we worked together, we maximised every opportunity we had. To even come into the final round of an eight-round championship with a large gap has been testament to all the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes and the relentlessness that we put into that mid-part of the season.”

Rea credits his early setback in round one in Australia for inspiring him to work even harder when he returned home to Northern Ireland for a much longer than anticipated break.

“I think the crash in Phillip Island was a blessing in disguise because I went home and worked so hard during lockdown but mentally it was very tough – as it is for everyone in this situation – so I threw myself into the gym and I worked very hard on my physical training and dropped some kilos,” said the 33-year-old.

“I really struggled at home mentally without a target and it was difficult in the paddock without the paddock show, the interaction with fans, the pitlane walkabout – I really missed that. Also, sitting on the grid without a grandstand full of fans has been strange without that WSBK atmosphere and I’ve also missed my travelling support.

“But I’ve enjoyed the intensity of the racing and I’ve really enjoyed the back-to-back events, so I hope we can do more of that. We got eight rounds, a lot of different winners and a lot of guys on the podium, so it’s been a pretty positive year because after Phillip Island, I actually thought we were done for.”

His fourth place finish in Saturday’s race was enough to secure the title but Rea was unable to fully allow himself to become emotionally immersed in any championship celebrations.

“It’s really hard to win a championship on a Saturday and then have to regroup and go again,” he explained.

“I certainly created some work for myself after that mistake in Superpole but we’ve got one more 20-lap race to go and that’s us done for 2020.

“To be honest I’m quite numb and I don’t have a lot of feeling right now. It’s a little bit like when I have won the championship in the past on a Saturday over split races, so it’s very hard to emotionally go very high because my focus goes straight away to Sunday to try to improve the bike and package.”

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