Jonathan Rea's moving tribute to Joey Dunlop and Brian Reid after maiden World Superbike title success

The Northern Ireland rider won the first of his five consecutive world crowns with Kawasaki in his first season on the ZX-10R machine after joining the team for 2015.

It was a dream come true for Rea, who went on to become the most successful rider in the history of the championship, surpassing Carl Fogarty’s record of four world titles.

Rea has won a staggering 89 World Superbike races, with 74 of those victories achieved with Kawasaki over the past six years.

When he clinched his maiden title at Jerez in Spain in 2015, Rea became Northern Ireland’s first-ever World Superbike champion, 29 years after Joey Dunlop and Brian Reid were crowned Formula One and Formula Two world champions respectively.

Then aged 28, he finished fourth in race one at Jerez five years ago to secure the points he needed to wrap up the championship with two rounds of the season remaining in France and Qatar.

It was the culmination of a stunning debut season with Kawasaki, with Rea winning 12 races and claiming 20 rostrum finishes in all from 21 starts up to that point to underline his dominance.

The former British youth motocross champion paid homage to Ulster’s past world champions Joey Dunlop and Brian Reid in a moving tribute on his victory lap, donning the pair’s famous helmets in a nod to their title successes in 1986.

Rea could hardly have imagined the success that would follow as he reflected on achieving his goal of becoming a world champion.

“This is an amazing moment for me in my career because I started schoolboy motocross when I was six years old, spending time at race circuits with my father and growing up in a racing environment, so I always dreamed of being world champion,” he said.

“So to finally be here and be world champion is incredible. Now it still does not feel real but I am world champion and I am really proud.”

He followed up his fourth place finish in race one with an identical result in the second race, with Rea finishing outside the top three for the first time all season.

The ecstatic Ulsterman added: “There has been a lot of hard work from myself, sacrifice and dedication from my family, but most of all this championship would not be possible without Kawasaki.

“When my mechanics were putting the number 1 sticker on the bike out on track it felt really strange but I am just so happy and grateful for this opportunity. There have been many ups and hard times,” Rea added.

“Moments like this are even more special because of the challenges I have faced with injuries, a broken wrist and a bad fracture of my femur. Right now it has not sunk in… now it still does not feel real but I am world champion and I am really proud.”

Rea said he was inspired to one day become a world champion after watching Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss battle for the World Superbike title in 2002.

“When I watched the 2002 World Championship between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss I got so much inspiration from this it became my dream,” he said.

“It became like, ‘I have to do this.’ So even in tough times I never doubted my ability.

“I have always believed that we were capable of winning a world championship right after I had stepped off a World Supersport bike onto a Superbike. Now, in this moment, it just feels like my time to be honest.

“It feels a bit like everything has gone my way a bit, even when a couple of things could have gone wrong.”

Today, Rea’s place in history is already assured but there is evidently more to come from the Ballyclare man, who is bidding for an astonishing sixth title win in a row in 2020.