Jonathan Rea reaches 100th win in WorldSBK
The opening round of the 2021 WorldSBK season took off with a bang in Aragon, Spain last weekend where defending world champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), scored the first win of the season. His Race 1 victory also marked an incredible milestone in his racing career, 100th race wins in WorldSBK. 85 of those wins were all from Kawasaki.
COMPLETELY UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!@jonathanrea takes his 100th WorldSBK win!
He becomes the first rider in any FIM Road Racing World Championship class to achieve ALL of his 100 wins in ONE CLASS!@KRT_WorldSBK
NO WORDS👏👏#REAch100 #AragonWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/2wA9K8ALaV
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) May 22, 2021
Riding the new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR, both Rea and his teammate, Alex Lowes, showed pure dominance in Race 1 after finishing in P1 and P2 respectively. According to the 34-year-old Irish rider, "We reached 100 race wins today and it was done with a lot of hard work. Over the off season Kawasaki really dug in with a new bike and we were able to make a step. Also in the off season I worked really hard on myself and I know I improved in all areas."
The race results were replicated again on Sunday morning's Superpole race, but tough weather conditions during Race 2 saw them finishing on the podium as well, but in P2 and P3 respectively. Aruba.it Racing Ducati's Scott Redding gambled with slicks while the other went with the intermediate, and he blitzed through the pack for the Race 2 victory thanks to his late power play.
That's how you make a comeback!💪
This time the tyre gamble DOES work for @Reddingpower, with victory on slicks in Race 2!@ArubaRacing #AragonWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/AmmcHIpEO6
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) May 23, 2021
The Aragon round saw Jonathan Rea collecting 57 points and the championship lead, followed by his teammate, Alex Lowes, with 45 points in P2, and Ducati's Scott Redding in P3 with 40 points. The entire WorldSBK paddock has already packed up and headed to Estoril, Portugal for the Gaerne Estoril round happening from 28 to 30 May 2021. Will Kawasaki continue to dominate WorldSBK?