Jonathan Rea reflects on career and looks to the season ahead

Jonathan Rea

World Superbike’s most successful rider, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), is gearing up to try and regain his title from Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK). The 35-year-old is excited to embark on another season and has already commented that he’s found better performance in braking: “Right now in January, this is our second test of our pres-eason and to be honest, we had a good test at Jerez in December where we tried some new items and I felt really good with the bike. The biggest difference is that you can brake how I want to, and I have more confidence in the front of the bike; everything is going on plan.

“Kawasaki have been working really hard in the background and hopefully we can learn some things from this test, go to Portimao, the MotorLand Aragon test before the race weekend and also Montmelo before that, where we will face our main rivals; then we can compare exactly where we are.”

The famous #65 will be back on Rea’s bike for 2022, and whilst the change was forced, he relishes the return of his number: “Changing my number, firstly, is not by choice, but of course, going back to #65… let’s say it is my career number. It gives me a lot of happy memories: I remember the #65 being on the front of my 2015 Kawasaki and it was an incredible moment, and incredible time and it changed my life.

“When I put it back on my bike in Mandalika at the end of last year, I had this nice feeling inside that ‘I’m going back to #65 and this is going to be good.’ For me, the number’s not about pressure and it’s not like when I’m racing that I see it in front of my face! It’s strange to go back to that and I might have to rejig my merchandise a little bit, because after six years, we’d started to incorporate some number ones! It’s a little bit of a change!

“Well of course, 2021 was a challenging year but also, when I look back, it was a fun year,” began a reminiscent Rea. “I really enjoyed 2021 because I learnt a lot, I was still fast, and I still battled… the battles in the races were incredible. For 2022, my target is to make less mistakes. How do we do that? We need to improve the technical package of the bike. First impressions so far are that the bike’s a little bit more user-friendly when I’m riding on my limit.

“I need to try and forget about all my other competitors and the other manufacturers and focus on my job inside Kawasaki. Sometimes last year, that was my biggest mistake: I was looking to the others. It was playing negative doubts in your head like, ‘oh, they are fast’ or ‘there bike is so fast’ but inside here, we have a great bike. Even when we have some limitations or difficulties, I can still compete for winning races. That’s what I need to focus on and bet on myself a bit more.

“When people ask, ‘what’s the difference in motivation from keeping winning or trying to beat someone again,’ it’s the same. When you’re winning, it’s almost like the fear of not winning is keeping you motivated. When you finally accept that and you’re second and you’re at peace with it, then you can work forward in a good way. There’s no fear involved, and it becomes being all about trying to win.

“This off-season has been really nice; sometimes when you’re winning a Championship, it’s incredible: for TV, for media etc. However, what you don’t see in the background is the marketing commitments, flying everywhere to see a sponsor, manufacturer, or country. The last time I was on a plane before this test was in December to come here, so I’ve had such a good off-season. Sometimes, the weight of that #1 is heavy. I’ve enjoyed the positive sides of not being World Champion, but it doesn’t outweigh wanting the #1; I want that and I’m going to work hard to get it this season.”

Assessing his main competition for the year ahead, rivals from now and before were mentioned: “Is Toprak the guy to beat? Well, let’s see! You’d be silly to bet against him and I really feel that he starts as favourite, and I think that it really helps the preparations and the hype surrounding him and his future. I’m curious to see how he is going to perform in 2022. In WorldSBK, you never know. After Toprak, so many guys filled the podium in 2021, a lot of unexpected guys and a lot of race winners, it was incredible!

“I expect the same kind of season; rookies with more experience, factories learning more, rider changes such as Bautista to Ducati, Redding to BMW and also MotoGP riders coming into Honda! It’s all change! With that, you need to understand everyone’s place and I’m sure that after three or four rounds, we’ll understand the evolution of the Championship but for me, I’m just focussed on myself. If I can do that, then I’ll be fighting for podiums and hopefully a little bit more.”

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Looking back on becoming World Champion, Rea explained where the motivation comes from even after six titles: “At this stage of my career, I feel like motivation is at an all-time high. I don’t need to ride on the limit… all I wanted to be as a child was a World Champion and I did that in 2015. Right now, I’m motivated just by winning, pushing my bike to its limits, beating my rivals, but I also get a lot of enjoyment from travelling to new places and working hard with my team in the background. I don’t know when it’ll stop… what was a strange feeling for me this year was when Chaz retired. He’s been my career rivals and I almost wanted to go to Chaz and say, ‘hey man, is this something that creeps up season-by-season or race-by-race or does it just arrive one day and that’s it’ because I know my time’s going to come but I want to finish my way.

“That’s what I want… that’s how I see things. As a motorcycle racer, that never happens, but I must say that the feeling isn’t around right now. It’s about winning, trying to do my best at Kawasaki and enjoying it too; it’s a lot of hard efforts in the off-season and for me at home. Also, for the team and the schedule, it’s a busy Championship. If you’re not enjoying it, then it’d be the perfect time to step away but when there’s the possibility to win and you’re having fun, I’ll be lining up on the grid for sure.”

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