European season comes to a close
WorldSBK Commentator Steve English reviews the penultimate round of the season
The European season has finished, but there is still one round remaining of WorldSBK in 2017. Jerez marked the 12th opportunity for the field to make a stand against Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), but the triple World Champion once again answered all questions with an exclamation point.
That punctuation came on lap one of Race Two, when Rea came from ninth to first on the opening tour. It was a true tour de force from Rea, and showed once again why he has been able to claim the title this year. With the work from his Kawasaki crew to improve his starts, on top of the slickness of the ZX10RR which can clearly get through the pack with more ease than rival bikes, credit also needs to be given to Rea.
Riding with his confidence at an all time high, the Northern Irishman will feel that nothing can stop him at the moment. Having tied for wins with Troy Bayliss and moved ahead of Carl Fogarty's podium tally, there are few records left for Rea to target. The outright WorldSBK win record is within touching distance for the 30 year old, and that is sure to be the next target on his mind.
At the moment his rivals have only one thing on their mind; how do you stop Rea? In all forms of motorcycle racing you are either applying pressure or on the receiving end. At the moment, the champion has the confidence to stay at the top of his game and until that confidence is dented by a rival on a consistent basis, it will still be Rea forcing the pressure.
To be the best you've got to beat the best. At the moment Rea is the king of WorldSBK, but it only takes a couple of results to turn the tide against him and for a rival to topple him. So all eyes will be on Rea as he continues to push forward and become one of the very best.