Rennie Scaysbrook | December 14, 2016
The 2016 season was example of Jonathan Rea at the peak of his powers doing what he does best. But this was a more measured title win than the rampage of 2015. We caught up with him at the pre-season test in Aragon, Spain.
World Champion for the second year in a row. It took Jonathan Rea longer than maybe even he many anticipated to wrap up the title after such a commanding early points lead.
Photography by Gold & Goose
“If you get a chance to run number one, I think you should. It’s one of those numbers you can’t choose, can you?”– 2016 WorldSBK Champion, Jonathan Rea
When you’re hot, you’re hot!
That’s the mantra the Kawasaki Racing Team Jonathan Rea has made his own in the past two years of World Superbike competition. Twice he’s clinched production racing’s biggest prize for team green after years of struggle with Honda’s aging inferior CBR1000RR. And he started the quest for a third straight crown in perilous style with the fastest time of all at the season-ending Jerez test in November against a host of MotoGP riders and teams.
A father of two, 29-year-old Jonathan Rea is a man at peace with his lot in life – maturity, family, a great bike and team and a fine technical aptitude have seen the Northern Irishman clinch 23 podiums, including nine wins during 2016, consistently outpacing his former champion teammate Tom Sykes and becoming Kawasaki’s only two-time WorldSBK Champion on two different iterations of the ZX-10R.
Round one, Phillip Island. Jonathan Rea leads with Davies right behind him, followed by the Hondas of Michael Van Der Mark and Nicky Hayden. The Ducati challenge would come on strong in the second part of the year.
CN: Two years and two titles since joining Kawasaki. How does that feel?
JR: Yeah, it’s been incredible. I joined firstly an incredible manufacturer, but more importantly I joined an incredible group of guys. The bond in my team with all my crew and my crew chief, electronic engineers, and all the mechanics, and that relationship with the factory as well was really good from day one.
I think last year (2015) we never really stood back and took it all in; what we’re actually achieving. Then this year with the new bike, it was much more difficult because Kawasaki brought an incredible base bike. The base bike is much better (than the 2011-2015 ZX-10R), but in the racing form, the center of gravity was much more different. The balance of the bike was different, same with the engine character. It took a long time to really understand what was working with this bike. We still don’t have an amazing base setting. From track to track we’re changing quite a lot, but when we stand back and look at how many races we’ve won in two seasons, it’s been incredible.
Sometimes you have to pinch yourself because it’s been so good you’re kind of living inside that bubble. But I can tell you, there were some really tough times.
A crash in race one at Laustizring when his ZX-10R hit a false neutral was remedied with a win in race two, but Jonathan Rea still felt the pain in the points.
How has the change between the 2015 and 2016 ZX-10R affected you?
The biggest difference was the engine character – the bike required you to ride a different way. So I had to quickly change my riding style to get the best out of the bike. With grip, the bike was incredible. As soon as the grip started to go our tire consumption wasn’t the best, compared to last year.
Did this bike chew up the tire more?
Yeah. From a chassis point of view the weight balance of the bike was completely different. So all the data and settings we had last year was not really relevant – we had to find a new base. But I feel the potential of this bike is bigger.
As a streetbike, it’s better – I bought myself one, a ZX-10R, and converted it to superstock spec, and would go really fast on that. I went to Lausitzring (Germany) with just the kit ECU that you buy in the Kawasaki parts catalogue and some slick tires, race bodywork and exhaust, and I was only 1.7 seconds slower than on my factory bike!
But when I went back on my superbike I complained this thing’s an animal and it’s too hard to ride. It was just a different way of riding to make the best of it.
The new Kawasaki chassis caused Jonathan Rea to use more corner speed, thus making tire wear a concern.
Has the chassis feel changed?
The feeling, the stiffness in the chassis, is no more different. I feel like we understand the engine is in a different place in the chassis. What worked with last year’s bike, we didn’t expect that, to be honest. We thought we had the same chassis and everything was the same, just we had more parameters to play with, like the different head plate positions, and we had a lot more homologated parts to use with that. We thought we had the same base, but we could have more scope to improve. But in reality the bike is actually quite different.
Your electronics engineer, Paolo Marchetti, says you spend a lot of time working on engine braking. What are you looking for?
I feel like if I can get into the corner smooth and consistently, then I can control the bike on the exit of the corners. The problem is when I close the throttle I need support because I can’t affect the bike. If you start touching the clutch, you upset the engine brake. If you start using too much rear brake, you start interrupting the engine brake. I need the engine brake to be precise.
When you’re decelerating, you’re counting on support from the compromise between the balance of the bike to be stable and on the bike being balanced, but also from the engine brake side I don’t like the bike backing in too much, especially with our engine configuration. When I watch other riders that are backing in, they’re using the soft front tire and turning into the apex, whereas I’m doing a lot of counter-steering. There’s always that point where I haven’t found a nice electronics setting where it comes back into line nicely and I can finish the corner.
Jonathan Rea (right) and Tom Sykes (left) have had an up and down relationship during their time as teammates but there’s certainly healthy mutual respect between the two.
Do you use a lot of rear brake on corner entry?
Not so much, to be honest. Maybe in the corner, close to maximum lean I use a little bit, but on the way in, not really.
How has the traction control changed in the time that you’ve been around?
The traction control strategies are very similar to what we had the beginning of last year (2015). It’s probably one of the strongest areas of our bike, to be honest. The fueling is very good as well. It’s very nice and easy power, but the character of the power and for example the engine character and the state of tune for me is a little bit aggressive in a race. I haven’t seen the power or torque curve, but I can imagine it’s a little bit lumpy in the race bike.
You have your handlebars set quite wide, almost like a dirtbike. Is that because it gives you more leverage or more room to move?
It’s easier to change direction, but honestly, it’s just my style. I’m starting to work with (former World Supersport Champion) Fabian Foret as a bit of a rider coach and that’s one thing that we were going to speak to the team about, to bend the bars in a little bit more. But basically, it’s more comfortable. I can get tucked in more easily.
The champion arrives, baller style, to the WorldSBK awards ceremony in Qatar as wife Tatia (left, white) records the moment.
Where do you see the big areas of improvement in the bike for next year? Obviously Ducati is coming after you guys now. Where do you see the bike getting better?
Honestly, we need to improve the power a lot. We need a lot more horsepower all the way through. The bike as a package is really good but that’s the one area we’re lacking. We actually lost some power in 2016 compared to previous years. Before we could afford to waste the tire and the side of the tire, now in 2016, we were having to be fast mid-corner and use a lot of grip.
Are you charging into corners?
Not really hard, but just on the side of the tire to stay in the grip. We’re wasting the tire. Last year we could sacrifice and be a little bit more smooth and calm in the corner, and then using a bit of a speed advantage for example with Ducati. Now Ducati are at the worst the same, but most cases even faster than us.
Chaz Davies is riding quite well.
He’s riding very well. He’s riding on a wave. He had nothing to lose in the last part of the year where both me and Tom were riding for the championship.
Try as he might, Jonathan Rea (1) couldn’t topple Tom Sykes (66) in the home battleground of Donington Park.
When you look at it on paper you won the title at the last round, but you were so far in front for so long over the year. It was just a couple of bad rounds that hurt you in the points.
We had the mechanical failure at Laguna Seca and then a technical glitch in Lausitzring where I crashed. I hit a false neutral, didn’t get the bike started in time and then it snapped into gear in the last corner and kicked me off.
But it was nice to be in the driving seat that part of the year. We did a bit of damage in the first few races, scored 95 out of 100 points over two rounds, and then we could not relax, but the next races we got through. Then we started winning again in Misano and at Laguna being on the podium. Maybe at Sepang and Donington, it seemed like we were just kind of riding for a championship. Maybe not all the time, but when we had to get on the gas we did, and when we had to be clever we were.
You’re the first rider in any world championship for a very long time to defend the number one plate. What do you think about that?
It’s quite hard honestly. The hardest thing probably for me was coming to Kawasaki because I was already leaving a good team, good people. I was the number one guy there, being treated very well. But the bike wasn’t as competitive. When I came here, Kawasaki already had their world champion (Sykes). I was coming in as the second guy. So there was a lot of pressure for me to step up. Once I did that and found my place in the team it was more pressure off. So coming into this year, the biggest pressure was coming from me mentally – it was a new bike and we had to develop it. There were certain things we couldn’t change, certain things we had to adapt to and others we had accept. But we made the best of the season.
One happy family. It’s almost as if Jonathan Rea has only become faster with marriage and children.
You don’t believe running the number one plate on the bike is bad luck, like Marc Marquez?
I don’t know. For sure, I thought about it at the start of the year but… it’s one of them numbers you can’t choose, can you? I think you should. I don’t have multi-million-dollar merchandise deals with anybody. 65 is my number but if you get a chance to run number one you should run it, I think. I come from a motocross background, I was pushing the organizers to let me run red plates when I was leading!
Have you got any of your championship bikes?
I will have. Just not now because the chassis’ are similar and a lot of parts were used still like switches and suspension. Plus, they (Kawasaki) show the bikes around the world. I think I should receive my last year’s bike soon and then I’ve also got my ’16 in the camp truck as well.
Have got a spot at home for them?
No, I got no space for them, to be honest. I think the endgame for me is going to be back in Australia with my wife and the kids (Rea’s wife, Tatia, is from Phillip Island, Australia).
Smooth style and devastating speed – 2017 could see Jonathan Rea become the first rider in history to win three WorldSBK titles in a row.
Is that where you’ll retire?
I guess. We have never really decided. I just feel like that’s probably the endgame for us. We haven’t spoken about it, but it would be nice to build a nice house and have the bikes that sort of enabled us to build and buy a nice house on display somewhere. It’s really nice to have, because that was sort of the dream.
I’ve seen some pictures of Carl Fogarty’s house with his championship bikes in a little foyer or corridor. That’s so cool. I don’t think I’ll have a runner, to be honest. It will probably just be visually the same. Because of the factory parts inside, contractually I wouldn’t be allowed, really, but I won’t need it to run them, they will be an ornament in the house.
That will be the dream – some bikes in the corridor leading into the man cave bar, memorabilia museum. Something for all my mates so I can tell them how fast I used to be!
