The five-time World Champion is currently completely dominating the competition in Superbike, but he would have happily crossed the Rubicon to become a permanent rider in MotoGP. It was with Honda that the realization of this hope was most intense, unfortunately without success.
“It was the year when Dani Pedrosa talked about his retirement. I think it was around Le Mans weekend, and Chuck Aksland, my manager, tried to get me on the Repsol Honda. That would have been good. But the discussion remained unresolved, I was put on the back burner. I then had the impression that the arrival of Jorge Lorenzo became a reality at Honda » explained the Briton to worldsbk.com. And Lorenzo was chosen as Marc Márquez's teammate for 2019.
Rea and the Repsol Honda MotoGP team already knew each other, since Johnny during the 2012 Misano GP had replaced Casey Stoner package. He qualified 9th, then finished 8th, 43 seconds behind the winner. In the following race, the Aragón GP, he qualified 7th, then finished 7th, 32 seconds behind the winner, his then teammate, Dani Pedrosa.
Rea applied for 2019 at Repsol Honda, without success: " It would have been good. Aprilia made me an offer, but I wasn't really interested, it was Pedrosa's place that I wanted. »
“I doubt Kawasaki will return to MotoGP, Rea continued. It would be a dream, but I've never had this conversation and deep down, I don't feel it. The options I had? Not much, to be honest. I always hear the same thing, “you are here and you should do this”. In an ideal world, I would like to choose what I want and do it. In the past, there haven't been many opportunities. Nothing very concrete, that's for sure. »
Rea estimates his opponents: “My manager has spoken with Ducati probably every year, so I know how good Chaz Davies’ package is. He takes up most of the budget, so I think Álvaro Bautista may have felt quite undervalued. Then Honda came with an important new proposition. And when you put an HRC logo on something and they tell you they're serious, you have to think they'll do the right thing. Maybe not in 2020, but I believe they are there to try to win. »
On the Yamaha side, Rea sees the main threat coming from Toprak Razgatlioglu with whom he worked when the latter officiated in the Kawasaki clan. The two men were notably teammates on the victorious bike last year during the Suzuka 8H, with Leon Haslam. “The young Toprak comes from the Kawasaki family and is now with Yamaha. I have a fondness for him because he had some pretty raw talent in Superstock, he really tamed the bike. I always helped him during his first year in WorldSBK, I regret it a little now! He's really talented. I feel like I'm not done with the World Championships, but I feel like he'll be next. »
“I get along with others like in normal life, with some people better than others. As for the rivalry between Tom Sykes and I, it was about managing our egos when it came to development, because Tom wanted the bike to be like this and me to be like that. But rather than between Tom and me, there was more of a rivalry between our two chief engineers. »
Photos © Kawasaki, Repsol Media, and Johnny Rea personally
