Jonathan Rea has signed a new two-year lease with a Kawasaki factory which promises him the arrival of a Ninja ZX-2023R from 10 which will allow him to keep up with Bautista's Ducati and Razgatlioglu's Yamaha. The goal is to regain this world title collected consecutively six times and left in 2021 to the Turk on the Japanese and missed in 2022 in favor of the Spaniard on the Italian. And we'll have to do it quickly. Because when you are 36 years old in this industry, time is running out. Exactly, would the Northern Irishman fire his last cartridges?
Jonathan Rhea is assured of its fate until 2024, but after that, it will be time to think about what comes next... The official Kawasaki will be 36 years old next February and he is already set in stone in the WSBK category. Six crowns collected from 2015 to 2020 are impressive. But it’s the kind of series that whets the appetite more than it satiates: “ It's truly inspiring when you have the opportunity to win, it's like a drug. Once you win, you don't want to lose that feeling » recognizes the spearhead of the Akashi factory.
Jonathan Rea: “je ne veux pas être ici dans cinq ans"
And this feeling refuses to go out even less when you always know you are at the top of your art: “ in the first races Alvaro Bautista beat me with a 15 second lead on the Ducati and was a big wake-up call. You have to know how to accept difficult times, I managed to manage them very well. This year I haven't been beaten as many times by big gaps. I have reason to be optimistic ».
So, in comments relayed by Motoracing, he wonders about his future: “ I don't want to say that this will be my last contract, but I don't think about it. I don't want to be here in five years. I won't retire as long as I'm competitive and having fun. I've never thought about retiring yet. I still have two years of contract with Kawasaki and I'm focusing on that ". But, already, in my head, a five-year term is not possible...
