Rea on the verge of first title

Jonathan Rea is on the verge of claiming his first World Superbike title. The Kawasaki rider needs just six points to wrap up the crown and with six races remaining the 28 year old is almost certain to become the first Northern Irishman to win a world title since Joey Dunlop claimed the 1986 Formula One championship.

With Superbikes having been on its summer break since the start of August Rea has been keen to get back on track after missing out on claiming the title after a thrilling Race 2 battle with Chaz Davies saw the Ducati rider win the race and keep his title hopes alive.

“It has been nice to have the summer break but after two weeks I just wanted to get going again,” said Rea. “Especially after the momentum we have had throughout the season and falling just so short of actually winning the championship in Sepang.” 

With teams having tested at Jerez over the winter they will all know what to expect from the Southern Spanish track and having spent his Superbike career on Honda’s those tests were also the first time that Rea sampled the Kawasaki.

“We had a good winter test at Jerez. I felt really good straight away with the Ninja ZX-10R in the January sessions and we have further improved the bike. We have been able to take the package pretty much everywhere this year and be competitive.  Together with all the guys in the team we have worked so hard for this moment, so we will do our very best throughout Friday and Saturday to give us a package that we can fight for a race win with.”