After heading into the Prosecco DOC Dutch Round after losing the lead of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship standings lead, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) bounced back in the perfect fashion with a hat-trick of victories at the TT Circuit Assen, moving back into the Championship lead.

Rea also secured his fifth consecutive pole position in the Tissot Superpole session meaning he has a 100% record so far in 2021. Although he faced pressure from various rivals throughout times at Assen, Rea was able to overcome them in each race to claim the fourth hat-trick of race wins in his career and the first since Portimao in 2020.

Rea revealed after Race 2 how there were setup changes to his Kawasaki ZX-10RR at the Dutch Round which helped pave the way for his three victories, which also put him on 199 WorldSBK podiums. Rea said: “My team did an incredible job. We changed the base setup of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR to be honest. Wheelbase wise, I could make the bike much more nimble, changing direction was better. I was using less track than usual, preserving the tyre. We won yesterday with the SCX tyre and today we went with the SC0 and I was still able to have a good result. That’s all testament to the good work going inside the KRT box.”

“We just changed the length of the wheelbase quite a lot. From the front header pipe position to the rear swingarm length but the combination worked really well, and we were able to work calmly through the weekend. We made a long run on Friday; we knew all the information we needed for the races.”

Rea now leads the Championship by 37 points heading into the Czech Round at the Autodrom Most, after Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) claimed two third place finishes in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race, while he was forced to retire from Race 2 after a Turn 1, Lap 1 crash with Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) where the American was penalised.

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