Jonathan Rea confident he’ll be back on top podium as World Superbikes arrive at Donington Park

World champion enjoying familiar surroundings at Donington

Numbers game: Jonathan Rea is looking forward to seeing fans trackside but believes more should be accommodated. Credit: Getty Images

Getty Images

Numbers game: Jonathan Rea is looking forward to seeing fans trackside but believes more should be accommodated. Credit: Getty Images

James Robinson

July 02 2021 07:00 AM

Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea is going for glory this weekend as Donington Park hosts his home round of the series in front of a limited crowd of 4,000 fans.

The British race was cancelled last year as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, meaning there was no World Superbike round held in the UK for the first time since Donington hosted the first ever race back in 1988.

Rea has fond memories of his last appearance at the venue in 2019, when he dominated with a hat-trick of victories in front of thousands of cheering fans, many of whom made the short trip across the Irish Sea from Northern Ireland.

The 34-year-old, who toasted a remarkable 100th career triumph in the first race of the 2021 championship at Estoril in Portugal, will need no extra incentive to return to the top step this weekend as he aims to increase his lead in the standings.

Going into round four, Rea leads Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu by 20 points after his advantage was cut by the Yamaha man in the previous round at Misano in Italy, where Rea finished third in all three races.

However, the reigning champion is quietly confident he can plunder a bagful of points at Donington, which has been a favourable venue for the Kawasaki ZX-10RR in the past.

Rea said simply: “The goal is to win and try and be as competitive as we can. I’ll enjoy seeing some fans trackside and it’s not the thousands and thousands that we expected we would have, but to have some fans like we had at Misano is going to be nice.

“It will be nice also for those fans who are able to be there and I hope to do a really good weekend because it’s a strong track for us and one that we should capitalise on.”

Last week, Rea hit out at the limit of 4,000 people at motorcycling events in England, which impacted the opening round of the British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

Donington will be subject to the same restriction on crowd numbers this weekend, but this month’s British Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone will have a full capacity attendance of 140,000 fans after it was deemed a ‘test event’ by the government.

Wembley Stadium is also set to host 60,000 spectators for the semi-final and final of Euro 2020 this month, leaving riders, fans and race organisers alike frustrated by the restrictive measures in place for motorcycle races.

“Donington Park has hundreds of acres of space where you could practice social distancing and fans to be apart from the bubble inside of the paddock,” Rea said.

“I just don’t understand who makes this up — it’s comical.”

Fellow countryman Eugene Laverty will be hoping for home comforts at Donington after the Toomebridge native endured a tough time at Misano.

Laverty was ruled out of race one following a crash during the final free practice session and finished races two and three in 13th and 15th, respectively.

The former championship runner-up, who joined the RC Squadra Corse satellite BMW team this year, is languishing in 17th place.

Donington also hosts a round of the Pirelli National Junior Superstock Championship.

A number of Northern Ireland riders will be rubbing shoulders with Rea in the paddock, including Randalstown’s Eugene McManus, fresh from a fine third place last weekend at Oulton.

Banbridge man Simon Reid will also be aiming to shine on his Yamaha.

Free practice gets under way today with tomorrow’s first WSBK race scheduled for 2pm.

Jonathan Rea confident he’ll be back on top podium as World Superbikes arrive at Donington Park

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