Lewis puts his life on the line every time he gets in the cockpit.. he would be a worthy SPOTY winner

THERE is one obvious reason Jonathan Rea’s name does not appear on a BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist that Tyson Fury wants to make shorter.

He might win it.

Rea came close in 2017, when he was beaten in the voting only by Mo Farah – and the Beeb are not going to take that risk again. Having won the Superbike Wo r ld Champio n s h i p for a third time on the spin, Rea was among the 12 names the publi c were asked to choose from three years ago.

Since then, Rea has won a fourth, fifth and, now, sixth world championship.

He has broken pretty much every Superb ike record. He is a phenomenon. But, on mainland Britain, few would recognise Rea, so the celebrity-obsessed TV types are not having that.

They are taking a chance that the magnificent jockey Hollie Doyle might get a decent number of votes – but they had to have at least one female on the shortlist.

Not that there is a dearth of exceptional British sportswomen, it is just that the likes of cyclist Lizzie Deignan and triathlete Jessica Learmonth are not household names – unless you are in the Deignan or Learmonth households.

And, with a shortage of actual footage to show, the BBC needs stardust.

In fact, it needs to ramp up any publicity it can possibly get.

Which is why executives are probably not bothered about Fury’s request to be removed from the shortlist. Leave him on it, the controversy is good and he is probably not going to win it anyway.

Lewis Hamilton finished second last year and there is no epic hero, such as Ben Stokes, to contend with in this Covid-19 edition of the award.

Don’t forget, Fury has not fought for 10 months.

Jordan Henderson will mobilise a decent Liverpool vote, Ronnie O’Sullivan has his backers, Stuart Broad is popular.

But none of them is going to get votes in Stokes- style numbers.

There is a school of thought that believes the award should not be given this year, there is a school of thought that believes it is a bit of a joke and there is a school of thought that believes Marcus Rashford should have been allowed to win it.

Valid arguments.

The award is deeply flawed

– that is why Rea is not on the shortlist – but Hamilton (left) will deserve, for a second occasion, the recognition of a prime- time, terrestrial TV show.

If you disagree, think of those images from Bahrain on Sunday. The fact remains that these drivers put their lives on the line every single time they lower themselves into the cockpit of a Formula One car.

Imagine having the mentality to drive a flawless race when a mate has just been through what Romain Grosjean went through.

Imagine having that mentality for so long, for seven world titles, for 95 Grand Prix wins, for 265 races.

And if you do want nonsporting deeds taken into consideration, few sportsmen or women have been as proactive as Hamilton in campaigning for far greater inclusivity in his and other sports.

In the same way as Fury, Hamilton knows what he is and knows what he has done in sport.

In the same way as Fury, Hamilton does not need ‘ verification’.

But it would be fitting to give it to him anyway.

And don’t let Tyson tell you any different.

Imagine having the mentality to drive a flawless race when a mate has just been through what Romain Grosjean went through