Jonathan Rea charged to an exceptional victory at the Magny-Cours circuit in France on Saturday to create history and become the first rider to secure three consecutive WorldSBK titles since the production bike championship began in 1988.
Thirty year old Rea, who hails from Northern Ireland, was supreme from start to finish aboard his Ninja ZX-10RR, crossing the line a massive 16 seconds ahead of second placed Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), with Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) finishing third.
The Kawasaki king pulled away from pole position and was clear of the pack early. He kept the hammer down over the 21 lap race in the wet-drying conditions to remain unchallenged at the front. His impressive performance delivered his 12th victory of the 21 races to date – a better than 50% win rate for 2017 – and his 50th win in World SBK.
Rea’s stellar season is his most dominant to date, with the Magny Cours win catapulting his points haul to 456 and securing for the Kawasaki rider an unassailable lead with two rounds to go.
It is a year that kicked off with a double victory at Australia’s Phillip Island, one of his favourite circuits in the world and a place of special significance in the Rea files. He is married to Phillip Island’s Tatia Weston, and spends off-seasons down under with his two half-Aussie sons, Jake and Tyler.
“I have no words right now,” said Rea after being crowned.
“I have sacrificed so much of my life, as have my parents and everyone involved in helping me get to this level. To win it, the championship, the first time, the second time and then go three times in a row, I cannot compute my feelings right now.
“My thanks to every single member of the team and everyone from Kawasaki back in Japan. Most of all I want my thank my wife and kids who sacrifice so much.”
Magny Cours fans also saw a truly gritty ride from Rea’s teammate Sykes as the Yorkshireman returned to action with a third place result, having had surgery on a finger injury less than two weeks ago, after his last round crash in Portimao. Sykes completed the podium after just losing out on second place to Melandri in the final stages of the race.
Five seconds off the rostrum was Leon Camier for MV Agusta Reparto Corse, with Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) another 19 seconds back rounding out the top five.
Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) were sixth and seventh respectively, whilst Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) was the eighth rider home.
Early in the race there was a crash for Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), which also saw Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) go down, but remarkably Dutchman Van der Mark fought back to finish ninth, ahead of Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). Australia’s Anthony West was 18th aboard the Puccetti Kawasaki.
2017 Jonathan Rea statistics
Jonathan Rea – Three-times World Champion 2015 (Kawasaki), 2016 (Kawasaki), 2017 (Kawasaki)
2017: Races to date: 21 Wins:12 Podiums: 20 Superpole: 5
Career Race Wins: 50 (35 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 108 (66 for Kawasaki)
FOOTNOTE: Unfortunately, just one day after winning his third consecutive FIM Superbike World Championship, Jonathan was forced to retire from race two at Magny Cours today.
Coming from the third row, as a result of his race one win yesterday, Jonathan was caught up with another rider who had crashed in the early laps. His footpeg was ripped off in the incident, injuring his foot in the process and despite returning to the pits to affect repairs to the bike the Ulsterman was unfortunately forced to retire.