This season, Jonathan Rea could well be associated with the Phoenix. Because he always rises from his ashes! Rolled out at the start of the season by Álvaro Bautista and his Ducati in Superbike, he held on to now find himself at the head of a championship in which he once again became the favorite. At Suzuka, he crashed before the finish of the 8:00 a.m. Endurance race. He thought he had lost everything, he returned to the hotel, sat down to dinner when his phone rang…
It seems that this year, nothing can happen to Jonathan Rhea. Even when things go sour, he pulls out all the stops to make it happen anyway. A real mascot for a Kawasaki factory that he filled by collecting Suzuka 8 Hours so sensitive for a Japanese manufacturer. The Akashi factory had not experienced happiness since 1993 with Scott Russell et Aaron Slight.
And yet, with this fall on a puddle of oil one minute from the end of the race all seemed lost. Bad luck, but Jonathan Rhea knows how to ward off bad luck. The Northern Irishman says: “ I can't believe what happened. At first I was depressed and felt like everything was out of control. I said goodbye to all the boys with a lot of tearss” declared Sale. “ I went to the restaurant and ordered my dinner when my mechanic called Uri and told me we had won the 8 hours! ».
« I think common sense prevailed. I don't speak because I'm very moved and happyx” confessed the four-time Superbike world champion. “ The strategy was to work on fuel consumption and race consistency without making any mistakes. I think we did it well, although I was quite tired at the end. I am so proud to be part of the project and what an effort from KRT, KHI, KMJ, who prepared this race. It's hellish during the race, it's the toughest competition you can imagine, but to get a result like this almost makes me want to come back for more. The emotional roller coaster ride is unreal ».
The victory was won by Jonathan Rhea et Leon Haslam since the use of young Toprak Razgatlioglu was abandoned. The Superbike world champion Sale rode three seconds faster than his pursuers in Yamaha and Honda in the delicate final stage, when it rained lightly. “ Jonathan made the difference " said haslam with respect to his teammate. Enough to resume the course of the WSBK championship with morale of steel…
