Jonathan Rea’s only wish at Assen: “To be able to fight”

On the podium just once so far this season, the 2023 WorldSBK campaign has been somewhat of a disaster for Jonathan Rea through two rounds.

Robert Jones

19 Apr 2023

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki WorldSBK Mandalika 2023

It’s only the second time since joining Kawasaki that Rea has failed to take a win in any of the opening six races, but even in 2019 the six-time WorldSBK champion was second in every race.

In contrast, Rea’s only podium so far this season came at the season-opening race in wet conditions at Phillip Island.

Since then Rea has only finished inside the top four once, which has added to this being the worst start to a season in his Kawasaki career.

The good news for Rea however, is that next up is Assen, a circuit he’s dominated at during his time in WorldSBK.

Rea is a 16-time winner around Assen which is why fighting for the podium remains his aim despite a tough opening to 2023.

"It’s exciting to go racing again because it feels like forever since Indonesia," said Rea. "In a way that is a good thing to reset after a tough start to the year. We have had two really solid tests at Motorland and Barcelona.

"Assen is a great track for us to restart our season. It is a circuit we have had some success at in the past, it is a local round for Kawasaki Motors Europe. There are also a lot of travelling fans from the UK and the Dutch fans are incredible.

"The best moments on slowing down laps are in Assen, when you come around that last sector into the GT chicane when the grandstands are full. It always feels really cool to be on the circuit then.

"The plan will be to start strong in FP1 with a good rhythm, work on our race set-up and get ready. Of course, the target is to get on the podium to be able to fight."

Not the only factory Kawasaki rider in the mood to fight for the podium, teammate Alex Lowes, who at times has shown similar or even better pace than Rea this season, wants the same type of results this weekend.

Lowes added: "I’m excited to get back going in Assen. We have had a couple of tests, at Motorland Aragon and Barcelona, since the last race weekend in Indonesia, and I believe we’ve improved the bike set-up a little bit.

"Assen is a track that personally I enjoy a lot. The bike should work well there and my target is to challenge for the podium.

"The atmosphere and fans are great there too, so I’m looking forward to the first European-based round of the year."