MOTORSPORTS may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there is no denying Jonathan Rea is one of the greatest World Superbike riders of all time.
He has had an incredible 119 race wins, 264 podiums and secured six championships, all in a row. He holds the record for the most WorldSBK titles and victories.
And whilst his announcement last week that he would be retiring wasn’t in itself a shock, there comes a time when every racer has to hang up their boots, the weight of his announcement was.
Rea has been a staple on the WSBK circuit since 2008. That’s one heck of a long time, especially when you consider that very few of those he enters the track with now were even in the paddocks when he first started his career. British rider Sam Lowers was starting out in Superstock 600 in 2008, and Italian Daniel Petrucci had kicked off his career in Superstock 600 in 2007, whilst the likes of Toprak
Razgatlioglu was still another six years from entering the paddock and ten years making the jump to Superbikes.
Rea, had considered a jump to MotoGP, but that all changed when he met his wife Tatia and had two boys, a family man at heart having more time with them growing up and less travel on the WSBK circuit, compared to the MotoGP circuit, deciding factors.
And whilst in an Instagram video announcing his retirement Rea stated it wasn’t goodbye just yet, as opportunities off the track would be next, it’s still a signal of a major shift in the realm of WSBK, as the last of 2010s riders hangs up his boots.
