Rea: I have no regrets, I rode to my maximum and with all my heart
Jonathan Rea has been beaten to a WorldSBK championship for the first time since joining Kawasaki in 2015 as Toprak Razgatlioglu claims a maiden title for Yamaha.
In what’s been a weather affected season finale, Rea managed to end his campaign in brilliant fashion as he got the better of Razgatlioglu and Scott Redding in both features races.
The first of those saw the Kawasaki rider hold off a late charge from Razgatlioglu who needed to finish second in race one should Rea win.
That’s exactly what took place which means the six-time world champion relinquishes the #1 plate for the first time since 2016.
In the shortened second race which suffered a lengthy delay due to heavy rain before the scheduled start, Rea got the better of Redding after a last lap duel.
Rea got ahead of Redding at turn ten before the Ducati rider attempted to come back down the inside at turn 15, however, Redding ran wide which allowed Rea to complete his second clean sweep of the season - the first of those was at Assen.
Despite suffering several crashes throughout the year which have ultimately proved too costly to overcome, Rea is ‘super content’ with his efforts and has ‘no regrets’.
Rea added: "It was a super day, super content with that. After FP1 we faced some difficulties but to rebound and come back to win in the wet, in the dry, I’m just super happy.
"Especially for the Mandalika fans and to get a race two was really pleasing. I was hoping they would use that period after the heavy downpour to say yes (to go racing).
"When I knew we would get going I was really excited to get racing. I tried to set a good pace from the start but Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and Scott [Redding] were also very fast.
"I could understand where they were fast. I just rode with nothing to lose and to just go out on a high.
"We can honestly say we have no regrets this year, I rode my maximum, I rode my heart out every race and I’m very satisfied."
From one champion to another, Rea took the time to complement the brilliant season that saw Razgatlioglu take the title, while also alluding to the pair’s battle making him a better rider.
"Congratulations to Toprak and his team. They’ve done an incredible season, they were very fast and it’s really making me improve as a rider," said Rea.
"I’ve looked at myself to evaluate how I can do better, how the bike can be better, so this winter we’ll be really pushing Kawasaki to improve our ZX10-RR and try to come back with a stronger package."
