Fresh from winning the 2015 Superbike World Championship title in race 1, Jonathan Rea took another fourth position aboard his Kawasaki ahead of Sykes, who seemed rider one who suffered the most in the hotter conditions.
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A top ten finish in Sunday’s opening race (9.30am BST) will see Rea realise his dream of becoming a world champion, and his father Johnny – himself an accomplished racer who won the 1989 Junior TT – said he knew from the beginning his son was destined for the top.
The two Brits will be joined on the front row by Italian Niccolo Canepa, with the trio being separated by just 0.216 seconds.
Rea took the title with 478 points, and after 11 rounds Ducati’s Chaz Davies sits in second place on 353 points and team mate Tom Sykes on 331 points.
Rea and his Kawasaki team clinched the title with five races to spare.
Although Rea’s raw talent has never been questioned over the past six seasons, all of which he contested on Honda machinery, it wasn’t until the 28-year-old from Ballymena rode the green bike until his maximum potential could be extracted.
Row four consists of Pata Honda World Superbike’s Sylvain Guintoli, Aprilia Racing Team’s Leon Haslam, and Salom who crashed out of Superpole 1.
Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) placed seventh and on a great day for the Ducati riders, Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing Ducati) and factory team stand in Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati WSB) finished inside the top nine, eighth and ninth respectively. “There has been a lot of hard work from myself, sacrifice and dedication from my family, but most of all this championship would not be possible without Kawasaki”.
“I have always believed that we were capable of winning, it has been a team effort and I have to thank Kawasaki for giving me that chance to do this”. A world champion. Strangely enough today was my worst results of the season with the two fourth place finishes and yet I manage to clinch the title.
“Right now it hasn’t sunk in”. Then I got a little bit too excited on the qualifying lap in T2, overcooked it a little, but I am really happy with the effort I did. Moments like this are even more special because of the challenges I have faced with injuries.
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“He never let go of the fact that he had faith in my ability to become someone good, and here I am a world champion”.
