By Hayley Wildes
The 2018 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championships are headed to Phillip Island this weekend. With the best of the best, including three-time defending World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea, headed to the Island, it promises to be a weekend full of high octane racing.
Rea, who will be looking to take home the Phillip Island crown for the sixth time in the last seven races at the venue, acknowledged the new technical rules will play a role in evening out the field, but is looking to continue his domination of the sport.
“The new regulations have tried to balance the field, which is a huge challenge for all the manufacturers,” said Rea, who hails from Northern Ireland but spends his off-season in Phillip Island.
“Like always though, after three or four races most of the riders and teams will find their place in the championship – and I can’t see it being too dissimilar to last year as regards to who’s at the front and winning races.”
Those new rules include his Kawasaki ZX-10RR being restricted to a rev limit of 14,100rpm – a 1,000rpm reduction from the 2017 season. Furthermore, if Rea’s reign of supremacy continues, he could be further handicapped in the form of 250rpm handicaps as the season progresses.
“I don’t see it being a disadvantage at many tracks, because there are not a lot of places where we are in sixth gear the whole time. When we are, we might suffer a little bit.” Rea said.
After an intense 2017 season that saw Rea become the first rider to win three titles in a row in the production-based series, he is now refreshed and ready to battle for a fourth consecutive title.
“Everything is in place to win again, but there’s also a part of me that worries that one day I am not going to be that guy,” said Rea.
“I can’t continue this forever, but I feel like barring any silly mistakes, and I remain healthy, we should be able to fight for the title until the very end.”
With testing taking place this week at Phillip Island for all riders, the series officially kicks off this weekend with the 22-lap WorldSBK races being held at 3:00pm on Saturday and Sunday. There are also a range of support races over the weekend.
For more information, visit www.worldsbk.com.au.
