WORLDSBK CHAMPION JONATHAN REA
P160
INTERVIEW
riding the best I ever have and
the team is working harder than
ever. We'll see. All teams are in
the same boat, so it'll be who
reacts the best."
All too aware that the glaring
success both he and the Ka-
wasaki ZX-10RR have inflicted
on the WorldSBK competitive
landscape, Rea, on some levels,
saw it coming.
"I mean if they made us ride
scooters, I would ride and do my
best," he said with a bit of sigh.
"Regulations are going to be what
they're going to be. The factories
can adapt quickly and make the
best bike properly and quickly. If
I look at superstock in the Euro-
pean Championship right now,
Kawasaki has done a really good
job. We'll see. What's going to be
is going to be."
Tail gunning for Jonathan
Rea in 2018 will be ever-steady
teammate and 2013 WorldSBK
Champion Tom Sykes. And while
the two are quite professional with
one another, they both see the
other as the man they must beat.
"I mean we have to be profes-
sional with each other," says Rea
of his relationship with Sykes.
"He's the first guy I have to beat.
We have the same material. I
have my target to win the World
Championship and he has the
same, so it's impossible to be
close friends because you put so
much sacrifice into winning. But
we've got to be respectful be-
cause we work for Kawasaki and
we try to do the best job for them
as well, but we both have our
own personal goals. It conflicts,
" Next year I'm staying
with the same team, which
I'm really excited about,
but 2019 and 2020 are kind of up in the air. "
