Rea on future: World Superbike ticks all the boxes

Jonathan Rea says while he still holds dreams of moving to MotoGP he feels his current World Superbike situation “ticks all the boxes” for his future ambitions and hints at a fresh deal at Kawasaki.

The triple World Superbike champion has been linked to a potential MotoGP move, while during the latter half of 2017 reports emerged with the Northern Irish rider being connected to Suzuki, but Rea insists any move would only be made if he could secure a factory deal.

Rea on future: World Superbike ticks all the boxes

Jonathan Rea says while he still holds dreams of moving to MotoGP he feels his current World Superbike situation “ticks all the boxes” for his future ambitions and hints at a fresh deal at Kawasaki.

The triple World Superbike champion has been linked to a potential MotoGP move, while during the latter half of 2017 reports emerged with the Northern Irish rider being connected to Suzuki, but Rea insists any move would only be made if he could secure a factory deal.

Rea, who picked up the Royal Automobile Club’s Torrens Trophy this week for his historic third consecutive World Superbike riders’ title, repeated his sentiment that he would only move to MotoGP for a factory team but feels sticking in World Superbike better suits his personal and professional requirements for a future contract.

“To be completely honest it comes down to the needs of the person,” Rea said. “I value quality of life a lot and being a normal person to do 13 race weekend a year as opposed to 20 or 21 in the future is something, it is a huge sacrifice to do this job so I need to get rewarded for it.

“It is of zero interest to me to ride for a customer team against official riders with better equipment. I am not motivated just to be in that paddock and to be another guy. If I’m going to go there I want to measure myself against the best guys in the world.

“When I look at ticking all the boxes of what I want I think I find that in Superbikes as it fits me perfectly. At 31, I feel the opportunity to find a proposal that ticks all the boxes in MotoGP isn’t going to come so right now I am having an incredible time with Kawasaki.

“I could quite happily go out of the door now of the sport and be very proud of what I’ve achieved. I thought retirement bells would start kicking in now but I am having so much fun that I can’t see retirement coming. The door in MotoGP is not opening but at the same time I am not forcing it down either so we’ll see.”

With his current Kawasaki contract expiring at the end of this season, Rea is eager to nail down his future and hints at a contract being confirmed ahead of his home World Superbike round at Donington Park on (May 25-27).

“While I’m winning in Superbikes I’ll probably always have those questions [about MotoGP],” he said. “But I feel like before we get to Donington, before the summer break for sure, I’ll be sorted.”

In 2016 Rea signed a two-year contract extension with Kawasaki to tie him to the Japanese manufacturer in World Superbikes until at least the end of the 2018 campaign.

Rea claimed the World Superbike championship lead after the Thailand round having clinced a first win of the year in race one at the Chang International Circuit as he hunts an unprecedented fourth straight riders' world title.

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