My goal of winning the World Superbikes title this year isn’t over yet, says Jonathan Rea as he vows to fight on

Jonathan Rea says every World Superbike victory has to be earned as he vowed to up his game to challenge dominant rivals Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu this weekend in Argentina. T he Kawasaki rider has won an unprecedented 117 races since making his debut in the series in 2008, shattering all manner of records on his way to six consecutive world crowns from 2015 to 2020. Rea is the most successful World Superbike rider in history but he is currently in the midst of a barren spell, sealing his last win — his fifth of the season — at Estoril in Portugal in May.

Since then, Ducati’s Bautista and current champion Razgatlioglu have won all 18 races, securing nine victories apiece to pull away from Rea in the Championship standings this year. Spaniard Bautista has one hand on a maiden World Superbike title with three rounds remaining, establishing a lead of 52 points over Razgatlioglu, who in turn is 26 ahead of Ulsterman Rea. Read More Irwin basks in the glow of a ‘fantastic’ weekend at Brands Hatch as he takes runner-up spot in British Superbikes series With a seventh title slipping out of his reach, Rea says he is focused on working hard with his Kawasaki Racing Team to recapture his winning form at the San Juan circuit in South America.

Daily Headlines & Evening Telegraph Newsletter Receive today’s headlines directly to your inbox every morning and evening, with our free daily newsletter. Enter email address This field is required Sign Up “You’re never out of the Championship until it’s over but I’m so far away now we just have to think about maximising our opportunities, trying to be competitive again,” Rea said. Expand Close Jonathan Rea is targeting victory in Argentina / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jonathan Rea is targeting victory in Argentina “Of course I want to be on the podium but I want to fight for race wins.

“Nobody deserves to win and here in Superbikes you have to really earn it and work for it, and that’s what we’ll do. “We’ll roll our sleeves up, try and put a bike together that we can compete with and then it’s over to me. ” Rea felt his fortunes would turn at Portimao in Portugal at the previous round, which has historically been one of his strongest tracks.

However, he came up short again, with Razgatlioglu claiming a double while Bautista collected another 25 points for his victory in race two. Read More Colin Turkington holds head high as Tom Ingram lifts British Touring Cars crown “Portimao was a weekend that we really targeted to win a race there but we can’t be too hard on ourselves,” Rea said. “I felt like we really made a step forward, just not enough.

Both Alvaro and Toprak are incredibly strong right now together with their teams, so it’s up to us to try and close that deficit down and challenge. ” The 35-year-old — second fastest in FP1 yesterday, 0. 3s behind Razgatlioglu — is happy with the progress he has made this year in terms of managing tyre wear on the ZX-10RR Superbike.

“Last year was one of those lightbulb moments where between Saturday and Sunday, we really put our finger on the area where we had been struggling, to push the tyre and make the tyre grip,” he said. “Since then, throughout the winter and this year, I felt we have made a really good step forward. “So I expect to be competitive and hopefully feel that bond with the track straight away and build that rhythm because forecast-wise it looks like it’s going to be a hot weekend.

We need to prepare to manage the tyre. “Luckily the grip level here is not so crucial for tyre consumption, so I’ll just work with the crew to get a good feeling and take it from there. ” Race one today is at 7pm UK time, with tomorrow’s races at 4pm and 7pm UK time.

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