Rea wins 2020 World Superbike championship
With five straight championships since he joined the Kawasaki Racing Team in 2015, Jonathan Rea has already proven himself in World Superbike competition. As such, he would have been forgiven for letting this year’s FIM Motul Superbike World Championship slip, especially under the COVID-compromised circumstances of 2020. But the 33-year-old from Ballymena in Northern Ireland is a determined rider and has done it again, winning his sixth WSBK title.
In clinching this year’s championship, Rea becomes the first rider to win six successive titles in the same class of an FIM Road Racing World Championship since Giacomo Agostini. If Rea wins again in 2021, he’ll equal the Italian legend’s record of seven straight championships, achieved in the 350cc class between 1968 and 1974, and the 500cc class from 1966 to 1972.
Rough Start. . .
Rea started the 2020 WSBK season with a new challenger in the form of ex-GP racer Scott Redding at Aruba.it Ducati. Rea’s new KRT team mate Alex Lowes also looked threatening and Pata Yamaha World SBK Team signing, Toprak Razgatlioglu, couldn’t be overlooked either.
After crashing out of the first race at Phillip Island, Rea’s title defence looked a little wobbly, but he recovered to win the Tissot Superpole race and take a podium behind Lowes in Race 2. That saw Rea leave Australia in fourth place in the championship.
Shortly after, an adversary that neither Rea nor anyone else in this year’s championship could see coming manifested itself.
With COVID-19 throwing all international racing championships into disarray, if would be five months before the WSBK field reassembled, in a series that had not only been shortened, but restrained to European circuits only.
There was still a championship to be won, though, and Rea resumed with a 2-1-6 result at the second round in Jerez. That moved him up to second in the championship, just ahead of Lowes, but 24 points behind Redding, who was relishing the switch from MotoGP to World Superbike competition.
. . .Strong Finish
Rea’s greatest strength in his five previous WSBK championships has been consistency, and since that mishap at the opening round, he wouldn’t DNF another race and finished no worse than sixth in the following six rounds. Highlights included a clean sweep of victories at Portimao, standing on the podium for all six races at the Aragon double header and two wins in the penultimate round at Magny Cours.
In a reflection of last year’s come-from-behind win, Rea only took the championship lead from Redding at Round 4 in Aragon, but from there he never relinquished it.
Normally, Rea wraps up the championship with a round or two in hand, but this was a year unlike any other, so the championship was still live heading into the last round.
Arriving at Estoril for the eighth and final round of the 2020 season with a 59-point championship lead and 62 points available, Rea already had one hand on the trophy and needed to do little more than finish in the points to claim this year’s championship, even if Redding won all three races. That seemingly easy task was made a little harder when Rea crashed during his Tissot Superpole qualifying lap and would start the opening race from 15th place.
But, as well as being consistent, Rea is fast and that was demonstrated when he made up eight positions in the opening lap of Race 1. When the chequered flag came out, Rea was in fourth, which was more than enough to secure the championship.
A Tough Championship
In speaking about this year’s WSBK title, Rea acknowledged the amount of work that had been done off track just to get a championship done during the pandemic.
“It has been an incredible journey this season. I want to thank WorldSBK, Dorna, all the circuits and organisers to even get racing this year. In the middle of what everyone has experienced in 2020, sport always comes second – but we managed to race.
“I miss the fans here, I miss not having my family and friends here, and all my travelling support from back home in Northern Ireland; I really miss that. They cannot be here right now but it is thanks to all of them and my Kawasaki Racing Team, for keeping pushing this season. We started behind like last year but never gave up. It has been a hell of a journey and I am so happy.”
With the championship wrapped up in Race 1, Rea had a personal milestone to achieve in the final two races – his 100th WSBK career win. With fifth and 14th places in the final two races, that goal was missed, but the 33-year-old will no doubt hit that milestone early in the 2021 WSBK season.
Jonathan Rea WSBK Career Stats
Career Race Wins: 99 (84 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 185 (143 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 27 (23 for Kawasaki)
Career Championships: 6 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020)
Photos: GeeBee Images, courtesy of IRPR
