That’s six on the bounce
Despite having Scott Redding on a Ducati and Toprak Razgatlioglu on a Yamaha, Jonathan Rea again proved that the smartest rider wins. Not only that, he did it with four of his favourite circuits – Assen, Imola, Donington and Losail – all off the calendar thanks to the Covid-19 reshuffle. His continued relationship with Kawasaki brings with it a frightening snowball effect which lessens the development challenges from one season to another but they have always maintained a ‘step-by-step’ mantra and never, ever get complacent. Rea’s qualifying performances – combined with rivals’ struggles – were one of the keys. As Superpole sets the grid for two races, plenty of points were gained here. In fact, Rea won five of the eight Sprint Races while nobody else claimed more than one. Let’s not forget he started on the back foot with the Phillip Island crash and was up against the Ducati Panigale V4 R, generally regarded as a better motorcycle which sealed more podiums and won the Teams’ Championship. In classic Rea style, he didn’t crash under pressure while out of podium contention in Jerez or Barcelona, but he forcefully beat Rinaldi at MotorLand when some would have settled for second. And he set that blistering pace which forced Redding to crash.
With Redding into his second year, the youngsters improving and Kawasaki introducing a different bike, next season could be his toughest challenge. Then again, how many times have we said that before?