Jonathan Rea: king of World Superbikes looks forward to the British round this weekend
From the intense and limit-searching sport of motorcycle racing there are fewer current riders with a level of performance quite like double WorldSBK Champion and reigning number one Jonathan Rea. The 30-year-old from Larne and Isle of Man resident has scraped both knees across international circuits for the better part of two and a half years with the factory Kawasaki Racing Team and the combination has been emphatic: 23 wins from 52 in 2015 and ’16, and another seven from 10 in 2017 so far, writes Adam Wheeler.
From 62 blasts away from the grid with the distinctive green and black ZX-10RR he has missed a podium ceremony on just three occasions. And he’s still going.
A veteran of the Superbike series - based on production streetbike machinery, but still with hefty investment from manufacturers like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Ducati - Rea has reached a peak that would make him the envy of any professional sportsman. As the 2017 Championship comes to Donington Park this weekend the defending number one’s throttle hand has barely flinched after fixtures in Australia, Thailand, Spain, Holland and Italy and with pressure from rivals like team-mate Tom Sykes and Ducati’s Chaz Davies.
He remains a benchmark not only in Superbike but top-flight motorsport generally. As a consequence Rea is surrounded by expectation. Simply rolling out of the garage means entering a sphere under a microscope. Athletes fantasise about this higher plane of sporting existence but also probably worry about dealing with it.
“That’s the toughest part,” Rea says. “After ticking the box of your dream, motivation then comes from [the fear of] being beaten because winning starts to feel ‘normal’. Anything other than 25 points or 50 [for one race win or two] at the end of a weekend becomes a bit of a disappointment.”
Somewhat railing against perceived wisdom for professional athletes and their focus, Rea has hit his hot streak while dealing with a hectic lifestyle. Movement around him has included a high-profile team switch, getting married to partner Tatia and having two boys, Jake and Tyler; all in the same three-year period.
Discovering his “home” at Kawasaki and filling the role of family man has been an instrumental cog and actually refined and harnessed Rea’s capabilities to do his job beyond a reasonable degree.
“Without blowing my own trumpet too much, one of my biggest strengths as an athlete and father/person is that I’m able to switch off and tune out,” Rea offers by way of explanation.
“Even if it is a high-stress environment of needing to find a few tenths [of a second] on the track to be competitive then I will still sleep like a baby at night.”
“Being a family guy has helped me detach myself from being an athlete that is hell-bent on doing everything correctly to the minute detail or living with a sport scientist on my shoulder,” he adds.
“I have found a good balance and you cannot just fall into that: I have a lot of experience in this championship and this paddock and it is easy for me to rationalise and prioritise things and not let that pressure affect me. If it [the championship] went down to the last round and the last race, I would be able to cope a lot better than others.”
A thoughtful and articulate individual, Rea knows this is his moment to sit at the centre of a swift whirlwind that is a career in sport. “The best piece of advice someone ever gave me came from a respected team manager called Colin Wright,” he says. “We’d had a few beers and I was picking his brains and he said ‘Motorcycling is like surfing: you have to wait for your wave to come and then ride it’. It is something that sort of stuck with me: that you need to be ready.”
“I feel like my wave is here right now. Sometimes it isn’t, and you have to make the best of what you can and ride the choppy water but I go through life a bit like that. You cannot force things to happen.”
“I work my arse off physically and mentally to be at that level, so I am prepared… but I cannot control other people, their bikes or what tyre I get on the weekend. So it is about being clever and detaching yourself from your inner chimp. If you can be real, and stand back from it, then it is easier to deal with. I feel like I am in the best moments of my career.”
At Donington Park the champion will have to deal with team-mate Tom Sykes and the Englishman’s own remarkable unbeaten record at the venue since 2013.
Rea might have to remain as detached as he’s ever been with the attention of the British racing community zeroing on the Midlands this weekend.
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