History was made at Magny-Cours today, when Jonathan Rea claimed an unprecedented third WorldSBK championship in a row. It was a momentous day for the Northern Irishman, who also notched up the 50th victory of his career.
“To be honest I can’t sum up my emotions,” said the triple champion. “I just feel super proud of my team and Kawasaki.”
“It has been such a team effort, and even though I’m the guy who rode it over the line, there have been so many people involved to make it possible. Every season is different and special in its own individual way.”
Andrea Iannone has been something of an enigma since joining Suzuki. The Italian was blisteringly quick last year on the Ducati, which is one of the reasons Ducati took so long to choose between him and Andrea Dovizioso, after they signed Jorge Lorenzo to the factory team.
He was fast when he jumped on the Suzuki GSX-RR for the first time at the Valencia test, then carried that speed to Sepang, where he finished as second quickest overall.
Things have gone downhill since then. The Italian slipped down the order at the Phillip Island, then trailed further behind at the Qatar test.
His season has gone from bad to worse since racing started: he has five DNFs from 13 races, and when he finishes, he usually ends up around tenth. His best result so far has been a seventh place in Texas, but that was the exception, not the rule.
He currently sits in sixteenth in the championship, with a paltry 33 points. Iannone, race-winner in Austria last year, sits behind both Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rookies, and behind a total of seven riders on satellite bikes.
His rookie teammate, who has spent most of the season banged up with injury, is threatening to beat him more and more regularly. How to solve an issue like Andrea Iannone?
There has been one possible solution floating around since early summer. The basic concept is a surprising, yet surprisingly logical, swap.
The idea was that Andrea Iannone would be shipped off to World Superbikes to ride the Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea, while Rea would take Iannone’s place on the Ecstar Suzuki in MotoGP.
Tom Sykes had to sit out the Portimão round for World Superbike this past weekend, after the Kawasaki rider had a fiery crash during Saturday’s FP3 session.
The crash saw Sykes fracturing his little finger and ring finger on his left hand, and it required him to have surgery on Sunday, at the Clínica Mi Tres Torres in Barcelona.
Sykes’ recovery isn’t expected to take long, as the Doctors in Spain fitted a plate on his finger, and he could be back on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR race bike as early as the next round, at Magny-Cours.
Jonathan Rea took another step towards retaining the World Superbike championship, after a dominant weekend at the Portuguese round of the series. In Race 2, the Northern Irishman took longer to hit the front, but the end result was the same: 25 points.
The victory saw Rea extend his title lead to 120 points over his Kawasaki teammate, Tom Sykes. With the Englishman sitting out this weekend due to injury, Rea’s path to the title was given an unexpected boost, but overall it was business as usual for the 30-year-old.
In claiming his 34th Kawasaki victory, Rea became the Japanese manufacturer’s most successful rider of all time, but it wasn’t plain sailing for Rea.
Race 1 in Portimao may have produced a lights-to-flag victory for Jonathan Rea, but Saturday also produced plenty of drama.
Rea’s teammate, Tom Sykes, has been forced to sit out the weekend after fracturing a finger in a nasty crash during FP3. The 2013 WorldSBK champion highsided over the top of Jones’ Leap, was thrown from his Kawasaki, and left battered and bruised from the crash.
Having been given some strong pain medication, it was ruled that Sykes would be unfit for the rest of the weekend. The Englishman was in low spirits after the incident but should be back in full fitness in the year future.