Jonathan Rea – the husband of Phillip Island local Tatia Weston – has been crowned World Superbike Champion of 2015 after a stellar season including 12 race wins and 20 podium finishes from 21 races. Building an unassailable lead, he finished the job conservatively at round 11 at Spain’s Jerez circuit overnight, taking two fourth places to sign off on his first world superbike title.

Rea took the title with 478 points, and after 11 rounds Ducati’s Chaz Davies sits in second place on 353 points and team mate Tom Sykes on 331 points. The final two rounds are to be held France’s Magny Cours and Qatar on October 18.

Rea who hails from Northern Ireland, but spends summers in Australia with wife Tatia and son Jake, joined the Kawasaki Racing Team at the beginning of the season and kicked off the year with a win at Phillip Island. He has been pursuing the title since his first full world superbike campaign in 2009.

“This is an amazing moment for me in my career, there has been a lot of hard work from myself, sacrifice and dedication from my family, but most of all this championship would not be possible without Kawasaki. I want to thank both my team manager Guim Roda, and Steve Guttridge from KME, who really believed in me and gave me this opportunity. Right now it has not sunk in. Moments like this are even more special because of the challenges I have faced with injuries. When I watched the 2002 World Championship between Colin Edwards and Troy Bayliss I got so much inspiration from it. It became like, ‘I have to do this.’ So even in tough times I never doubted my ability. Right now it still does not feel real but I am world champion and I am really proud.”

Said Rea after wrapping up the title.

Rea first mounted the all-conquering Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R at MotorLand Aragon on 17 November 2014, supported all the way by Team Manager and former rider Guim Roda. The Northern Irishman arrived in Malaysia at the start of August already with a mathematic chance of claiming the title, despite three rounds still remaining of the 13. After Race 1 at Jerez, he has now won 12 races this year and picked up 20 podium finishes from the first 21 races. He is chasing Doug Polen’s 1991 record of 17 race victories in one season, which now can only be equalled.

Since the inauguration of WorldSBK in 1988, Rea is the third rider to win the crown on a Kawasaki motorcycle. The first was American Scott Russell in 1993, while the next was Rea’s current team-mate Tom Sykes two decades later. Rea has also become the first different World Champion in as many years (with the last five titles having been sealed by Carlos Checa, Max Biaggi, Tom Sykes and Sylvain Guintoli) and the fifth British World Champion after Carl Fogarty, Neil Hodgson, James Toseland and the aforementioned Tom Sykes.

Although Rea’s raw talent has never been questioned over the past six seasons, all of which he contested on Honda machinery, it wasn’t until the 28-year-old from Ballymena rode the green bike until his maximum potential could be extracted. All the while off the track, the humble Briton has remained a professional, unassuming human being, rider, husband and father. He currently resides on the Isle of Man.

The coveted crown in his hands, the new number one faces the rest of the season with copious amount of convince, fully aware of the many goals he can still achieve and the fact that Jonathan Rea is the 2015 eni FIM Superbike World Champion.

World SBK Championship Point Score After Round 11

1. Jonathan Rea – 478 points (Kawasaki) 2. Chaz Davies – 353 points (Ducati)  3. Tom Sykes – 331 points (Kawasaki)  4. Leon Haslam – 268 points (Aprilia)  5. Jordi Torres – 210 points (Aprilai)

Jonathan Rea  

Date of Birth

02 February 1987    

Place of Birth

Ballymena 

Team

KAWASAKI RACING TEAM

Bike

Kawasaki ZX-10R (no 65)

Stats

All time
Category	Poles	Races	Podiums	Wins	P2	P3	F.Laps
Superbike	6	162	62	27	19	16	19
Supersport		12	6	3	1	2

Year
Year	Cat.	Poles	Races	Podiums	Wins	P2	P3	F.Laps	Pos.
2015	SBK	2	22	20	12	6	2	9	1
2014	SBK	1	24	9	4	1	4	2	3
2013	SBK		18	4	1	2	1	1	9
2012	SBK		27	6	2	4			5
2011	SBK	2	18	5	2		3		9
2010	SBK	1	23	10	4	5	1	5	4
2009	SBK		8	8	2	1	5	2	5
2008	SBK		2						26
2008	SSP		12	6	3	1	2		2

Race One Report: Jonathan Rea World Superbike Champion With A 4^th Place; While Team Mate Tom Sykes Wins Race One

The opening race of the Pirelli Spanish round of this year’s eni FIM Superbike World Championship has been won by Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team), the former champion notching up his 60^th WorldSBK career podium finish as team mate Jonathan Rea sealed his first World Title by finishing x after an early race fight with rival Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who eventually finished 2^nd. Sykes dominated after leading from the start easing away to take his 26^th race win.

Not wanting to risk a mistake, Rea was overhauled by Michael van der Mark who showed some real speed on his Pata Honda, the Dutchman claiming his 3^rd podium of the year ahead of the new World Champion and Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) who was in contention despite a lowly 11^th position grid slot.

Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) finished a credible 6^th ahead of Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes, Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing), Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and the outgoing champ Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) who completed the top ten.

Jordi Torres made life difficult for himself, the Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils rider running off track at the start. Rejoining he ended the opening lap in 18^th before eventually finishing 12^th 4 seconds adrift of compatriot David Salom (Team Pedercini) who had the accolade of being the best placed Spanish rider.

The final points finishers were Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven), Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing) and Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia).

Niccolo Canepa (Althea Racing) was running a strong 4^th in the early stages before losing the front of his Ducati Panigale at Turn 6. The Italian, fresh from his first front row start was able to rejoin proceedings – he eventually finished 17^th.

Race Two Report:  Davies Takes Race Two With Aprilia Pair On Podium

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) went one better than in race 1 to win the second race of the day at a very hot and sunny Jerez circuit in Spain.

Unlike the opening encounter race 1 winner Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was unable to break away after taking the holeshot for the second time and despite stretching his advantage in the early laps was passed with ten laps to go by Davies who went on to grab his 9^th win of 2015.

The race pace was slower this afternoon, as expected because of the increase in track temperature, with Davies pulling away in the second half of the race to win by x from Jordi Torres, who made amends for his race 1 and his Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils team mate Leon Haslam who both overhauled early leader Sykes to complete the podium.

Fresh from winning the 2015 Superbike World Championship title in race 1, Jonathan Rea took another 4^th position aboard his Kawasaki ahead of race 1 winner Sykes who seemed to suffer in the hotter conditions.

The top 6 was completed by Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing) ahead of Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who had another solid race to finish 7^th.

8^th to 10^th positions were taken by Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World SBK Team) and Leandro Mercado (Barni Racing).

Niccolo Canepa finished 11^th after starting on the front row aboard his Althea Racing Ducati with David Salom (Team Pedercini) finishing 12^th.

Michael van der Mark crashed his Pata Honda out of the podium fight with 5 laps to go. The Dutchman was however once again in contention until he lost the front at Turn 9. He rejoined to salvage 3 points with 13^th at the flag.

14^th was Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) with the final point taken by the youngest competitor Christophe Ponsson (Team Pedercini).

Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) was given a ride through penalty after pulling into the pit lane after a lap, a disappointing end to his weekend after a strong showing in race 1.

By finishing 4^th and 5^th in race 2, Rea and Sykes give Kawasaki the 2015 FIM Manufacturer Title.

The penultimate round of the championship takes place in two weeks at the Magny-Cours circuit in France.

World Supersport : Kawasaki, Honda and MV Agusta Fill Spanish WSS Podium

Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) moved one step closer to his 4^th World Supersport title after controlling today’s 19 lap race at Jerez.

Startiing from Pole Position, the Turkish rider made a perfect start to lead from the start where he was never headed, eventually winning the 32^nd WSS race of his career by 1.037s.

The final places on the podium were taken by PJ Jacobsen (CORE Motorsport Thailand) and Lorenzo Zanetti (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) the pair lapping consistently but unable to challenge Sofuoglu today.

After a steady start Kyle Smith (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) finished 4^th ahead of WSS debutant Nico Terol (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). Terol was drafted after the unfortunate crash on Friday that curtailed Jules Cluzel’s title ambitions. The rider who began the season in WorldSBK looked strong on his supersport debut, moving into the top 8 from the start, eventually finishing a very credible 5^th after some elbow to elbow moves with Smith saw him lapping almost as fast as the leaders.

Marco Faccani (San Carlo Puccetti Racing) completed the top 6.

7^th to 10^th positions were taken by Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK#25), Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven), Kevin Wahr (SMS Honda), and Roberto Rolfo (Team Lorini), while the final point scoring positions were taken by Dominic Schmitter (Team Go Eleven), Marcos Ramirez (Team Lorini), Aiden Wagner (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) and Martin Cardenas (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) and Janos Chrobak (Schmidt Racing).

Lucas Mahias (MG Competition) was back in action but the Frenchman’s race lasted a lap before he retired with a technical problem, he had been in the leading group.

Gino Rea (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda) crashed out of the top ten as the race approached half distance as did Vladimir Leonov (DMC Racing). Both were unhurt.

{gallery}gallery/superbikes/Jerez_2015{/gallery}