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Rea hits 101 podiums at Misano

Friday, 23 June 2017 09:00 GMT

Reigning World Champion reaches another milestone in WorldSBK

On top of the stunning racing action fans were treated to at the Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) hit yet another momentous landmark in his career, as he secured his 100th podium in the dramatic race one. The British rider was locked in the fight for the victory before being involved in a horror crash with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). Despite this, Rea was able to remount and salvage a podium finish, whilst his 2nd place in race two on Sunday marked his 101st podium in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship.

As the two-time world champion shows no signs of slowing down – leading the championship standings by 50 points – WorldSBK.com takes a look back over his century of rostrums in the WorldSBK class.

A fresh- faced 22 year old Rea first graced the WorldSBK podium back in 2009 at South African circuit Kyalami. Finishing in third position behind Ducati Xerox Team-mates Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio, Rea was caught up in a battle for second before slipping back on his
Honda CBR1000RR, and able to hold off Leon Haslam and Max Biaggi on the final laps.

Once he got the monkey off his back in terms of podiums it didn’t take long for his first win to come, which was three races later at Misano World Circuit. This time Rea was able to get the better of Fabrizio and Haga in race two, taking his third podium finish and debut victory by a narrow 0.063s. The next landmark came with his tenth podium which was secured in 2010 in TT Circuit Assen’s Race One. Dominating over the weekend, Rea won both races by over a second as he secured his first ever double victory over in WorldSBK.

Reaching 25 podiums in 2012, Rea beat Italian Max Biaggi to take the victory in a dramatic race two finish in front of his home fans at Donington Park. Moving from third to first position through the final corner as Haslam and Melandri crashed out of contention; Rea’s 25th podium was certainly not one to forget.

A host of podiums continued to come for Rea on his Honda, leaving the Japanese factory with 42 overall, but his tally quickly began to rise once he made the move over to the green machine. In his first appearance with Kawasaki, the Northern Irishman secured a double podium with a victory and a second position around the fast and flowing Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in 2015.

Hitting his 50th podium at TT Circuit Assen in 2015’s race two as he certified the double victory, Rea continued with his strong pace around the Dutch circuit – a track he had already secured eight podiums around. 2016’s Imola Round played the host for Rea’s 75th WorldSBK podium finish, which saw him take home a pair of second positions as he was unable to catch the flying Davies.

Reaching his 100th podium in the Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round, Rea now has a total of 101 podiums following his race two rostrum finish and 59 podiums with Kawasaki. With a stunning podium tally so far this season – 13 – we can only imagine that we will see Rea’s podiums continue to rise.