Cycle News

Cycle News 2019 Issue 39 October 1

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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Johnny Five Times in WorldSBK A s sporting comebacks go, recovering from your main championship rival winning 11 straight races, when he is a rookie in the class, who was new to the tires and brakes, and who kept moving ahead in the points— even at the tracks you used to rule on—winning the 2019 series with two whole rounds and six races left is right up there with any sporting comeback. Jonathan Rea's recovery to become a unique five-time champion in WorldSBK basically started from Imola onward, but it was not seamless to start off with. A mistake at Jerez was one example, but as Alvaro Bautista imploded, Rea started winning where he could and proved that if your pace and package is consis- tent enough you can win champi- onships. In Magny Cours, France, Sep- tember 28-29, Rea's triple podi- ums, including one win, won him the surprise early title in France, not Argentina or Qatar. "It has been the biggest chal- lenge to date, and we have just chipped away," Rea said. "To get the championship done—not be- fore the last round but before the last two rounds—is something that I thought was never possible. It is a real lesson in never giving up." The entire Magny Cours week- end provided surprises, in fact, from a wet Friday to an unfore- seen wet Superpole, to Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) making his race-winning breakthrough in WorldSBK— twice. From the sixth row in qualifying, Razgatlioglu rampaged up to the winner's top step in race one and then the Superpole race. The first race was a (literal) knockabout of classic propor- tions. With so little time to set their machines up on a dry track, even IN THE WIND P56 Jonathan Rea confirmed his place as the WorldSBK G.O.A.T. with his fifth world title. PHOTOS: GOLD & GOOSE

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