Mum's the word for six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea

The Northern Ireland rider wrapped up the title for a sensational sixth consecutive year last weekend at Estoril in Portugal, but the celebrations have been decidedly muted since Rea returned home last Monday due to the Covid-19 restrictions in place.

Rea has been able to toast his latest championship triumph with his wife Tatia and two boys, Jake and Tyler, but he will have to wait a little while longer to celebrate with the rest of his family after travelling from Portugal.

“It’s sad for me to be honest and because of the restrictions I can’t even have anybody in my house,” Rea told the News Letter.

“I’ve seen my dad from outside his house but I haven’t even seen my mum yet, or my sister or brother, so whilst I’ve seen my wife and two kids I don’t feel like there’s been any celebrating done at all.

“It’s sad but that’s the way it is and that’s why I say that sometimes sport right now feels so insignificant,” he added.

“I just really want to be able to hang out with my mum and give her a big hug!”

The Kawasaki rider’s sixth title triumph was achieved during an abnormal season, with seven of the eight rounds of the condensed calendar taking place in Europe because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In late February, the 2020 campaign began as normal with the traditional curtain-raiser at Phillip Island in Australia, but unbeknownst to anyone at the time it would be all of five months before round two roared into life at Jerez in Spain.

Even for a seasoned racer like Rea, it was a scenario that presented a new set of challenges for the first time.

“It has been strange times, especially being at home during that lockdown period, but I was just so grateful to get some racing under way in the end because as I said, when I flew back home the other day you realise how insignificant sport seems right now,” he said.

“There were a few fans [at Magny-Cours in France and Estoril in Portugal] but they were so disconnected from the paddock because they’re not actually allowed into the venue; they were allowed out around the course and the numbers were very limited, so it was strange.

“It made no difference to my motivation without the fans because at the end of the day it’s about me and the track and doing the best I can.

“But certainly the strangest thing I found was sitting on the grid because generally you have a grandstand with people there, noise and a circuit commentator making the build-up, but this year there was nothing – it was silence and the only thing you could hear was the generators for the tyre warmers, so that was very eerie to be honest in the first races,” added Rea.

“Also with all the restrictions, it was a hard year logistically because my team – whilst it wasn’t mandatory from a championship point of view – my team made it mandatory for everyone to have PCR tests, so before every race we were flying early to a clinic in Barcelona to have Covid tests and making sure everybody was safe.

“During the weekends everybody was having to wear masks the whole time so it was a strange year from that point of view.

“In Superbikes in the last years I’ve had so many fans come to the races and it’s been so strange not having that atmosphere, so the race weekends were very quiet because of that and I didn’t have as many commitments to take care of.”

Last year, Rea battled his way to his fifth title after Spaniard Alvaro Bautista made a blistering start to the championship on the new Ducati V4-R.

The former MotoGP rider switched to the factory Honda team this year, but once again Rea’s biggest challenger emerged from the Ducati camp as 2019 British Superbike champion Scott Redding attempted to knock the Ulsterman off his perch.

However, the reigning champion found a way to get the job done, with Rea even fine-tuning his riding style to get every extra ounce of performance from his trusty Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

“Since I started working with my coach Fabien Foret, I’ve always tried to be more fluid on the bike, more loose, and tried to lower the centre of gravity a little bit, especially with my head,” he explained.

“That’s something I’ve been working on now for a few years but it just so happens this year I’ve been able to get off the bike a little bit better and we set the Kawasaki up so that could use a little bit more corner speed than previous years.

“In Aragon at some of the corners I was dropping my elbow a little bit more and after that it was more noise from journalists than actual reality. It wasn’t a huge step, but it was something I was conscious of,” he added.

“I’m just glad to get it done and now I can enjoy this time with my family.”

Rea won 11 races this year to move onto a record 99 career wins and he clearly has plenty left in the tank yet.

* A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. To subscribe, click here.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor