REA WINS 2017 WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

Kawasaki Racing Team’s Jonathan Rea has won the 2017 Motul FIM World Superbike Championship, wrapping up the title at Magny-Cours in France with two rounds remaining.
The championship is Rea’s third straight in the production bike-based category, and while other riders have won three WSBK championships, including our own Troy Bayliss, Rea is the first to win three in succession.

French Decider
Coming into the tenth round at Magny-Cours, Rea held a 120-point lead over second-placed competitor and Kawasaki team mate, Tom Sykes, with Aruba.it Ducati’s Chaz Davies third overall.
With all three riders still in championship contention, Rea needed to finish at least five points ahead of Sykes, while not conceding any more than twelve points to Davies to take the title. As it turned out, this was achieved with ease.
In the wet first race at Magny-Cours, Rea powered away from pole position to be ahead by more than two seconds at the end of the first lap. Midway through the 21-lap race, Rea had extended that margin to 14 seconds, eventually finishing more than 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Ducati).
As Sykes finished the race in third and Davies struggled with an electronics issue to finish tenth, Rea had an unassailable lead in the championship, capping off what has been a dominant season for the 30-year-old from Northern Ireland.
“I have no words right now,” said Rea after being crowned champion. “I have sacrificed so much of my life, as have my parents and everyone involved in helping me get to this level.
“To win it, the championship, the first time, the second time and then go three times in a row, I cannot compute my feelings right now.
“My thanks to every single member of the team and everyone from Kawasaki back in Japan. Most of all, I want my thank my wife and kids who sacrifice so much.
The race win was Rea’s 50th in WSBK competition and also the first time in his three titles where he’s won the race in which he secured the championship.
"I just feel super proud of my team and Kawasaki. It has been such a team effort, even though I'm the guy who rode it over the line, there have been so many people involved to make it possible.”

Stunning Season
Despite winning last year’s title, Rea confessed to being unsettled on the new-for-2016 ZX10-RR, and attributes his more solid performance this year to an extensive testing campaign undertaken by the team over the 2016 winter break.
“[Last season], we weren’t able to understand the bike and it was a lot more difficult, so it was a lot harder.
“This season we went through some hard winter tests and we worked through the problems, and were able to go out and win at Phillip Island.
“I have to say thank you to Mr Matusda and everyone back in Japan as they work so hard to allow me to live my dream.”
While Rea’s first WSBK championship in 2015 (his first season with Kawasaki) was impressive and his progression to a second title in 2016 was equally good, this season has been unparalleled for the Ulsterman.
Consider this: of the 21 races Rea started on his way to the 2017 championship, he finished on the podium in all but one of them, and in that DNF, he was leading the field when a rear tyre blew out.
That string of podiums includes twelve wins, seven of which came in the first eight races of the season.
It’s also worth noting that Rea’s dominance doesn’t come from pole position, as the Ulsterman rarely excels in qualifying. Winning Superpole on only two occasions in 2015, Rea had the same tally last year, but has five from the first ten rounds this year.
With two races remaining in the 2017 season at press time, Rea needs to win one of them to break his own record for the number of race wins in a season; 14 achieved in 2015.

What Next?
Rea is contracted to Kawasaki until the end of 2018 and seems keen to honour that deal, but paddock speculation has the champion at a MotoGP team, with Suzuki rumoured as a suitor for Rea’s services to replace the struggling Andrea Iannone.
A move to MotoGP from WSBK would not be unprecedented, as Cal Crutchlow, Colin Edwards and others have done it, but at 30 years of age, and possibly 32 if the opportunity does come up after his current contract ends, Rea will be one of the oldest MotoGP debutantes.
If he stays in WSBK next year and wins a fourth title, Rea will equal Carl Fogarty’s record as the most successful rider in World Superbikes with four championships.

Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: 2SNAP, courtesy of IRPR

Rea’s road to the 2017 World Superbike Championship

Round 1 – Phillip Island

Race 1 – First

Race 2 – First

Round 2 – Buriram

Race 1 – First

Race 2 – First

Round 3 – Aragon

Race 1 – First

Race 2 – Second

Round 4 – Assen