104 victories, 221 podiums, 39 pole positions, 6 world titles. Yes, you have already understood who we are talking about. The legend, the one who broke every record and who still seems not to be tired of going at full speed: Jonathan Rea got off his Kawasaki yesterday for the last time, in a celebration that almost seemed like a farewell. But it’s anything but: the Northern Irishman leaves the ZX-10RR to embrace a new project and from tomorrow, when the 2024 tests begin, we will see him dressed in blue.
A new era begins for the six-time world champion, who will be in Yamaha in place of Toprak Razgatlioglu and is probably (in terms of palmarès) the only one capable of filling the void that the Turk leaves to take other paths. The challenge for Rea is interesting, it will be about getting involved again at 36 years old. But as we know, the beginning of a new era inevitably marks the end of the old one. With Johnny’s farewell to Kawasaki, a duo is leaving that has rewritten the history of production derivatives, changing the rules and raising the bar ever higher.
Many rivals have passed, but Rea has remained. He still remembers the first world title he won in 2015 with Kawasaki, the one that consecrated the Northern Irishman and gave us proof of the birth of a champion. At the time we didn’t know that we were facing the first of a long series of world championships, the beginning of the undisputed dominance that led many to say: “How boring Superbike is”. Yes, dominated races are often not liked, however we have witnessed a fundamental part of the history of production derivatives.
Rea broke every record and is today, by a margin, the most successful rider in the history of Superbike. Of course, his adventure in Kawasaki did not end in glory as he would have liked. A fall in Race 2 while he was in the lead forced him to run at the back, returning to the garage without a trophy, but welcomed by the love of his people dressed in green, who accompanied him towards glory.
“It’s a strange feeling overall to be honest, not from a performance or results point of view, but because I’m leaving an incredible team. It’s my last day in green and that’s strange. Obviously it’s not the result I wanted to get for the my team, which deserved much more. What we have shown is that the Ninja ZX-10RR still has potential”, said Rea on Sunday afternoon in Jerez.
The desire to cross the finish line, to finish his last race under the checkered flag was too much. And it was precisely in Race 2 that Rea summed up his season and the determination (among other aspects) that in recent years has led him to be the most successful: “I wanted to finish the race because it would have been too easy to retire. My the footrest was broken and the handlebars were bent forward, but I still managed to lap in 1’41”. This makes me even more disappointed for what could have been, but that was our race. This sums up the ups and downs we’ve had this year; some incredible highs but also lows, but they can’t overshadow the highs I had at KRT. It’s been a whirlwind journey and something I’ll never forget.”
The farewell day was certainly emotional, but now a new adventure begins. Jonathan Rea is a Yamaha rider. It will be strange to see him dressed in blue, but the curiosity of seeing a six-time world champion start from scratch and test himself is enormous. Will this be the beginning of another era? We just have to find out in what will be a 2024 season full of changes and unknowns.
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