Biking Legends: Jonathan Rea

Published: 18 January 2024 Updated: 18 January 2024

With six back-to-back titles, Jonathan Rea is the most decorated World Superbike champion in the sport’s history, setting all-time highs for race wins (119), points scored (6172.5), podiums (263) and fastest laps (104) during a 16-year world-class career spent wheel-towheel with such greats as Bayliss, Haga, Spies, Davies, as well as Razgatlioglu and Bautista.

Recent times, however, have been hard for the serial winner, an aging ZX-10RR shouldering the blame for a lull in form which, at its lowest, resulted in a 24-race winless streak for the Larne-born legend – but it wasn’t through lack of trying.

Riding the wheels off his Kawasaki to remain competitive, the last few seasons have been edge-of-seat stuff for armchair enthusiasts, as Rea battled Bautista and Razgatlioglu tooth and nail.

It begs the question, at 36 and with so much success already behind him, just how does he keep that all-or-nothing will to win?

By Emma Franklin

Deputy Editor - Resident two-stroke nut and fully trained journalist, Emma’s passion for motorcycling has seen her work across many of the UK’s best-loved motorcycling titles over the past 19 years, before becoming Deputy Editor on the world’s number one biking weekly in 2020. A consumer journalist at heart, she’s dedicated to cutting through marketing waffle and putting manufacturers’ claims to the test in order to get to the truth. Passionate about all levels of road racing, and a former club racer herself, she’s still very much a paddock regular through her support of partner, Bruce Dunn’s racing exploits – so if you see her at a circuit, feel free to say hello.