REA'S RECORD COLLECTION GROWS
S
uch is Jonathan Rea's desire
to succeed that he scored a
double win at the Losail Interna-
tional Circuit in Qatar, Novem-
ber 3-4, and at a circuit he had
never won at before.
With his wins in Qatar, even
with two DNFs that were not
his or his bike's fault in his tally
in 2017, managed to squeeze
past Colin Edwards's previous
all-time points total for a single
season in WorldSBK, with 556
points. Plus, he has scored a
podium in every single race he
finished, even one he crashed
in due to another rider falling in
front of him.
Even if far too many podiums
in 2017 went to only Kawasaki or
Ducati riders, for the hardcore
fan they truly watched history
unfold in an astounding way.
Rea set a new personal
season best for race wins at 16.
Only Doug Polen, in 1991, has
scored one more in a year.
With Rea's smooth, high cor-
ner-speed style and his ability
to conserve tires and yet still sit
at a pace others cannot usually
follow, it means the fans in 2017
saw maybe the best superbike
rider ever grow and learn and
be as perfect as anyone can be
with the tools at hand.
"The most satisfying thing was
winning more races than I did
in 2015, because of the feeling
I had then, when the bike was
incredible," said Rea after race
two.
In the first race at Qatar on
a Friday for the first time (with
race two on Saturday as a Dorna
experiment) and with a Super-
pole record under his belt from
earlier in the day, Rea jumped
away and stayed away, winning
by almost five seconds.
In race two it was a much
closer deal as Chaz Davies
(Aruba.it Racing Ducati) attempt-
ed to put his stamp on second,
and almost crashed trying.
Rea pulled ahead, as Davies
had a massive moment, leading
from lap four and this time man-
aging the gap back to a rider
who was already guaranteed to
finish second after Tom Sykes
(Kawasaki Racing Team) had
IN
THE
WIND
P34
Jonathan
Rea was
untouchable
in the desert
for yet another
double win.
