2019 has been a difficult season for Jonathan Rea and Kawasaki in World Superbike. The reigning champion has been struggling to defeat Alvaro Bautista and Ducati. But despite all of his intents, Rea hasn’t been able to defeat Bautista, who remains undefeated this year.
Speaking to British newspaper The Telegraph, Rea says he feels something has changed this season. According to the Northern Irishman, people seem to be happy to see Alvaro Bautista winning. And that’s something Rea thinks is normal after he dominated the WSBK for so many years.
According to the Kawasaki rider, “In the first year, everyone is happy to see me win. The second year, people start to get tired with that. Third-year winning and even my rivals can’t look at me on the paddock. And in the fourth year, there are changes in regulations to make Superbike interesting again”.
Bautista domination has created a new Superbike order. And Jonathan Rea believes that’s normal and happened already with other great riders: “After two races I’ve seen many people happy with my defeats. I am and always have been a great MotoGP fan. And this is the same that happened with Valentino Rossi when he was winning. It became a routine. Then Casey Stoner arrived and everyone thought it was great. But after a while, fans wanted the return of Rossi”.
Despite all that’s happening this season, Jonathan Rea says he won’t retire anytime soon. “We are living a dream and I’m enjoying to be out on track with them. I’ll never get embittered because of the races”, says World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea.