Jonathan Rea's unparalleled World Superbike success has assured his place among Northern Ireland's sporting giants

His six consecutive world titles between 2015 and 2022 represent one of the greatest accomplishments in world motorcycling and make a powerful case for Rea to be considered as the finest two-wheel exponent to emerge from Northern Ireland alongside Joey Dunlop.

The 38-year-old’s remarkable consistency and unrelenting desire to stay at the top during that magical six-year period marked Rea out as a generational talent as the Ulsterman and Kawasaki became an unstoppable force.

Rea’s spectacularly successful association with the Japanese manufacturer came to an end in 2023 when he confirmed his move to Yamaha, and while that final chapter of his career has not panned out as he would have hoped, the Ballyclare man’s struggles on the R1 machine in no way detract from the legacy he will leave behind when he hangs up his leathers at the end of this season.

He has won a record 119 World Superbike races since making his debut as a wildcard towards the end of the 2008 season at Portimao in Portugal with the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team, making an immediate impact by finishing fourth in his first race.

“It’s crazy. I got a wildcard in WorldSBK, and I was so nervous,” Rea recalled.

“I qualified on the front row with Troy Bayliss, and it was his last ever WorldSBK round. I was like a kid you gave all the sweets to – I was so happy.

“It was a really cool weekend. I shared the front row with Troy, I got fourth in my first race, I still got second place in the World Supersport standings.

“I think I partied pretty hard! I can remember everything up until the party, from that point it became a little bit of a distant memory.”

Rea – who began his career in motocross – made the move to the World Supersport Championship in 2008 following a runner-up finish in the 2007 British Superbike Championship.

After a season-long battle with team-mate Andrew Pitt, he ended the year in second place in the standings.

His first full year in World Superbikes in 2009 was the starting point for what would flourish into an unsurpassed World Superbike career.

Rea – also a two-time winner of the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours race in Japan – earned his maiden WSBK podium in 2009 at Kyalami, with his first wins in his debut season on the Ten Kate Honda achieved at Misano and the Nurburgring.

In 2010, Rea secured 10 podiums and four more victories as he continued to turn heads with his performances on the Honda Fireblade, consistently finishing in the top five of the championship except in 2011 and 2013, when he was hampered by injury.

He was called into the factory Repsol Honda team for two races in the 2012 MotoGP World Championship for the injured Casey Stoner, claiming eighth at Misano in San Marino and seventh at Aragon in Spain.

The tenacious Ulsterman didn’t have the most competitive machine on the World Superbike grid with the Honda Fireblade, but when Rea joined Kawasaki in 2015, he delivered on his potential in emphatic style.

Rea won the first of his six world crowns with two rounds remaining in 2015, beating Ducati rival Chaz Davies to become Northern Ireland’s first World Superbike champion, 29 years after Joey Dunlop and Brian Reid were crowned Formula One and Formula Two world champions respectively in 1986.

Then aged 28, his fourth place in Race 1 at Jerez garnered the points he needed to wrap up the championship early.

Rea paid homage to Dunlop and Reid in a moving tribute on his victory lap, donning the pair’s famous helmets in a nod to their title world title success.

“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,” Rea said at the time.

“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.

“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.

“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.”

Rea was on top of the world, but far from resting on his laurels, he scaled greater heights than he could ever have dreamed of.

In 2016, Rea clinched back-to-back titles, beating his Kawasaki team-mate and big rival Tom Sykes, before prevailing again in 2017 against Welshman Davies.

He equalled Carl Fogarty’s record of four titles in 2018, with Davies again forced the settle for the runner-up spot, before locking horns with ex-MotoGP rider and former 125cc Grand Prix world champion Alvaro Bautista in 2019.

Rea rose to the challenge and become the most successful World Superbike rider ever with a fifth successive title safety secured.

His final championship triumph came during a Covid-impacted season in 2020, when Rea edged out Scott Redding in a final round shootout to underline his status as the king of World Superbikes.

His reign was finally ended by Turkey’s Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2021, but Rea will forever be the benchmark for WSBK greatness.

He won six races during the 2022 season, finishing third, with his most recent win coming at Most in the Czech Republic in 2023.

Rea is set to compete in four more races this year before completing his final lap at Jerez in Spain in October, bringing the curtain down on a quite extraordinary career.