The Pirelli Spanish Round has gone down in history as the WorldSBK race meeting at which Jonathan Rea was crowned World Champion of 2015. The British rider, standard bearer of the Kawasaki Racing Team, clinched the ultimate goal in Race 1 courtesy of his fourth position. He has been pursuing the title since his first full campaign in 2009.
Rea first mounted the all-conquering Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R at MotorLand Aragon on 17 November 2014, supported all the way by Team Manager and former rider Guim Roda. The Northern Irishman arrived in Malaysia at the start of August already with a mathematic chance of claiming the title, despite three rounds still remaining of the 13. After Race 1 at Jerez, he has now won 12 races this year and picked up 20 podium finishes from the first 21 races. He is chasing Doug Polen’s 1991 record of 17 race victories in one season, which now can only be equalled.
Since the inauguration of WorldSBK in 1988, Rea is the third rider to win the crown on a Kawasaki motorcycle. The first was American Scott Russell in 1993, while the next was Rea’s current team-mate Tom Sykes two decades later. Rea has also become the first different World Champion in as many years (with the last five titles having been sealed by Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi, Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli) and the fifth British World Champion after Carl Fogarty, Neil Hodgson, James Toseland and the aforementioned Tom Sykes.
El piloto británico Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) se proclamó este domingo nuevo campeón del mundo de Superbikes al finalizar en cuarta posición en la primera manga del antepenúltimo gran premio de la temporada, que se disputa este fin de semana en el Circuito de Jerez.
A Rea le bastaba con acabar entre los diez primeros de la carrera para conseguir su primer título mundial de la especialidad. Rea es, asimismo, el primer piloto nacido en Irlanda del Norte que se proclama campeón del mundo.
Segundo en la parrilla de salida, Rea ha salido en esa misma posición por detrás de su compañero de equipo, el británico Tom Sykes (Kawasaki), que el sábado logró la ‘pole’ y el domingo el triunfo después de liderar la carrera durante las 20 vueltas previstas.
Esta ha sido la primera carrera de la temporada en la que Rea no ha accedido al podio, después de hacerlo anteriormente en 20 ocasiones.
Los tres españoles participantes han finalizado seguidos la primera carrera del GP de Jerez, al acabar undécimo David Salom (Kawasaki), duodécimo Jordi Torres (Aprilia) y decimotercero Román Ramos (Kawasaki). La segunda manga está prevista a las 13.10 horas.