The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve holds a special place in Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as it was the venue he made his MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship debut at 15 years ago. With that milestone in mind, the six-time World Champions sat down to discuss his memories of that weekend, where he qualified on the front row and finished fourth in Race 1. Looking back on the weekend, Rea said: “It’s crazy. I got a wildcard in WorldSBK, and I was so nervous. I qualified on the front row with Troy Bayliss, and it was his last ever WorldSBK round. I was like a kid you gave all the sweets to; I was so happy! It was a really cool weekend. I shared the front row with Troy, I got fourth in my first WorldSBK race, I still got second place in the WorldSSP standings. I think I partied pretty hard! I can remember everything up until the party, from that point it became a little bit of a distant memory.”

Watch Rea recalling his debut in the video at the top of this article and watch all the action from Portimao using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now €9.99!