Rea lost a battle, but will he lose the war?
Well, what are we to make of it then? Superannuated grand prix rider, former small-class World Champion but not good enough to keep his premier-class ride, switches to a factory Ducati in World Superbikes... and smashes it, winning the first two races with contemptuous ease. His name is John Kocinski, and the year 1996.
Conclusive proof, for those on the Grand Prix side in the perennial British argument over which is the senior service, that the old proddie racing in SBK is most definitely a poor relation.
After all, it only took another 23 years for it to happen again. Surely you can recognise the trend? It will probably recur in 2042. Having long championed MotoGP, most unpopularly back when Carl Fogarty was the giant of WSB, and eschewing as I do any popular conclusions, I am still reluctant to sound the trumpets at Alvaro Bautista’s signal double win in the first WSBK round in Australia. He won decisively, yes. And properly trounced Jonathan Rea, the latest in a series of big-time Britons, who last year equalled the redoubtable Foggy’s four championships, and has won more WSB races than anybody.
Also, the all-new V4 Ducati Panigale humbled the dominant Kawasaki by well over ten seconds in each race, and won the all-new Sunday Superpole sprint race too. But does this signify the changing of the guards? Is it all over for Rea? If the Ulsterman felt any Panigale panic, he kept it hidden. Two second places, a lap record and the first Superpole were enough, at a track he doesn’t particularly like. Better than last year, when he only got one podium, and that didn’t stand in the way of a dominant championship. And it’s also encouraging that the next-best new Ducati, ridden by frequent former race winner Chaz Davies, was well out of the hunt. The big red bike is not necessarily a magic bullet. Rea’s biggest problem might rather be his own new teammate Leon Haslam.
In the same way as testing is not racing, then also the stand-alone first WSB race doesn’t define the year… not least because there are only two more races in the next six weeks, with lots of fiddle time before the European grind.
But it makes for an exciting start. And by the way, in case you were wondering, Kocinski didn’t win the title in 1996. He had to wait until the next year. And jump on a Honda.
‘Does this signify the changing of the guards?’