2020 WSBK: Rea makes it six in a row for Kawasaki

Preserving his winning streak, Jonathan Rea made it a sixth consecutive championship win for Kawasaki Racing Team in the 2020 World Superbike Championship (WSBK). The pandemic hit WSBK season was severely shortened with only eight rounds with Rea clinching his win at the final round in Estoril, Portugal.

The 33-year old who hails from Ballymena in Northern Ireland came to Estoril with a 58 point lead, but faced challenges from Scott Redding, Michael Van Der Mark and Chaz Davies. Having competed in WSBK for 13 years, Rea is now holds the record for most number of championship wins and is nearing a landmark 100 WSBK race wins, a feat unprecedented in WSBK history.

At the end of the season, it was Rea on top for the 2020 WSBK Championship with 360 points and nine race wins. In second was Scott Redding of ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati with 305 points while Chaz Davies, also of ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati – who finds himself without a seat for 2021 – finished third in the championship table with 273 points.

Meanwhile, Toprak Razgatlioglu of Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team came in fourth with 228 points, finishing the season in Estoril with emphatic wins in Race 1 and Superpole after failing to podium during the season. Standing fifth was Michael Van Der Mark of Pata Yamaha WorldSBK with 223 points.

In 2021, some shuffling of seats has taken place with Van Der Mark moving to BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team riding alongside Tom Sykes, who was previously from Kawasaki Racing Team. Michael Ruben Rinaldi of Team Go Eleven moves to ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati while Andrea Locatelli moves up from World Super Sport to the premier super bike racing class, riding for Pata Yamaha.