Jonathan Rea was initiated into the ranks of WorldSBK legends in 2016, by winning his second back-to-back world championship and the first this millennium. In this two-part Champions series, the Northern Irishman chatted openly about his rise to success and what it’s like at Kawasaki Racing Team working with his teammate Tom Sykes, who was his closest challenger this season.

Recalling his first win in 2015, the 29 year old admits it wasn’t easy to win the title again, with his two incredible seasons taking him on completely contrasting paths to success.

“I’m lucky, I’m with an incredible crew, amazing guys and an amazing factory and we worked super hard this year,” started Rea. “I feel like last season the results were coming automatically, almost easy and we were winning for fun. So this year it seems like we really had to win the championship. It felt like a lot bigger challenge and on days we could win we maximised that potential and on days we couldn’t, we did the best job we could. Luckily for me, the consistency for me has been a key part of the year and to win one race out from the end of the season in Qatar means a lot. Because after 26 races, in 13 rounds all over the world in different conditions, we’re World Champions and that’s been amazing.

“The philosophy when I joined KRT was, okay we have an amazing bike and an amazing package and factory around, but we need to be clever to win the championship. We’ve seen in the past over many seasons, that it’s not always the fastest guy that wins. But I’m really happy with winning races in dominant fashion, winning in last lap battles; it’s been an incredible year to look back on and one I’ll remember for a long time.”

In comparison to his first WorldSBK crown, Rea had to fight for it this season, finding his biggest challenge on the other side of his garage. They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer, the phrase ringing true for the rivals who shared the KRT pit box once again this year. Sykes was Rea’s biggest rival in the points standings and eventually second overall in the final race at Qatar. With the two incredible riders competing on the same bike, the same team and fighting for the same Championship it’s no surprise that Rea and Sykes aren’t the closest of companions. However the Northern Irishman is humble about the healthy competition between himself and his teammate, who also rides under the same flag.

“I’ve always admired Tom, always respected his ability on a bike, right from when we raced together in British Supersport in 2004,” said Rea. “I mean we grew up racing together, but never so competitive. You know, when we first joined the Superbike class, Kawasaki wasn’t competitive. I was on a very competitive team and always finished every year that I was uninjured in the top five in the world championship, whereas Tom had a meteoric rise from outside the top ten to almost winning a championship! That’s incredible and after that something changed. Then working with Tom has been difficult at times, honestly, inside the team because he has a very strong opinion about which way the development of the bike should go. I’ve got different feelings about the bike and together with KHI we have to try and develop this bike to win championships and win races, so it’s very hard. But for Kawasaki, I think it’s a very strong quality to have two different riders of different skills and technique, because they have two lots of data to understand to hopefully build a bike that is more universal, that can be used for a variety of different riding styles.

“We don’t have a super close relationship in the garage, his crew work quite independently to my crew. Of course we can always check on data and understand which areas not to go, what’s not working, but the thing with Tom is at the end of the day, I respect him as a human. He has his own ambitions and when you put two top sportsmen together, head-to-head, it’s impossible to be friends, because this is the guy you want to beat the most. You know, you put so much effort and sacrifice into trying to win a world championship- like he does- so it’s impossible to be friends with this guy, because if it doesn’t happen for you then it’s a huge disappointment. So I respect his space and let him have his say, but for me I just try to focus on myself and my team and that’s enough.”


In the second part of this Champions series, Rea reveals his thoughts on accepting defeat, his family and the man who won more races than he did in 2016; Chaz Davies. Don’t miss the next episode from WorldSBK.com.

World Champion Jonathan Rea continues to discuss his successful season, this time delving into his thoughts on Chaz Davies’ incredible race winning form at the end of the season. The Welshman put up a solid fight but it came too late and Rea explains how rider psychology has a big part to play in it, as well as why he thinks the Ducati rider was untouchable in the final chapter of 2016.

“[Chaz Davies] he’s riding incredibly well, the bike is for sure not at the end of development because they’re still improving, but they have a lot of experience with this bike,” said Rea. “We were a little bit fresh and lets say, wet behind the ears this year but we can’t take anything away from his end of season form.

“Everybody starts in January with one common goal and it’s not to win the most races or fastest laps or pole positions. Three, four guys want to be world champion. So it’s important to keep this goal in mind. So when we had so many points my mentality changed a little bit. We had to be more clever in races, we had to accept third when we accepted third. Same like when Chaz was on a level pegging, he had an incredible Aragon and Imola, was completely dominant and we were thinking the same. Then he made a lot of mistakes from his part, like losing the front uncharacteristically and when he gets excited, it seems like he was making mistakes. When Chaz accepted he couldn’t win the Championship, he was almost 100 points behind and you know, running without this pressure of a championship is different.

“But there are many key reasons why they have been so strong in the later part of the year, with you know, three key tests in the summer break when we put our feet up. But there’s also a reason, I mean we were dominating the Championship at that point, not just myself, but Tom as well, one-two in the Championship with the new bikes. So we need to learn from these mistakes.”

With a wife and two young children, it’s incredible how the Northern Irishman finds the time to become a World Champion. And while Rea wouldn’t have it any other way, he admits that at times juggling his personal life with his professional life has been tough, especially when his children have been sick, meaning his family rely on him more than ever.

“I don’t say it’s hard to be a sportsman at the top level with a family,” said Rea. “I find that my family, especially with my wife being so strong, has been an advantage to make me more balanced at home. But it’s true that when Tyler was born he really suffered from a sever condition of silent reflux, where he was constantly being sick. Before this was diagnosed he was burning the whole insides of his oesophagus and he was in a lot of pain. So this pain coupled with being sick 15-20 times a day, we weren’t getting sleep and it was a real nightmare.

“I remember having a moment before Phillip Island at the start of the year, of weakness, and talking to my wife thinking, ‘I could never win a championship this year’ and everything was just getting too much because I felt so much for him. Before we got him on the correct medication to stop the burning inside and whilst he continued to be sick, he became affectionately known as the happy chucker. So I mean sort of 6-7 months later, in the middle of the season he got into an amazing pattern during the summer break, sleeping like a baby, not being sick and he’s such a really happy kid now. Now at the end of the season he’s growing up, maturing and life’s much easier and more calm and I’m happy to go into next year knowing that we have found a nice balance between life at the track and life at the home.”

With title number two under his belt, what’s next? To defend it of course! However, Jonathan Rea is unassuming and admits he’s excited about the challenge ahead.

“We talk about me being champion but it’s not done,” said Rea. “I mean these guys can be Champion. I think that the Championship is at such a competitive level and everyone has their day, every manufacturer has their day, but with added spice, added manufacturers, added riders, it’s going to be really exciting for me to try and defend my number one.”