Rea: WorldSBK title was lost because of ‘careless mistakes’

Despite having no regrets about his 2021 WorldSBK season, Jonathan Rea believes mistakes at Donington Park, Most and Portimao were crucial to him losing the WorldSBK title.

Had Rea won the 2021 title, it would have meant clinching an astonishing seventh world championship - all with Kawasaki and all in succession. 

However, a mistake-free Toprak Razgatlioglu out-performed Rea in the middle and later part of the season to take his first world title and Yamaha’s first in 12 years. 

Speaking on the Sunday after races one and two in Mandalika, Rea said crucial mistakes early on in the season were the turning point, as opposed to losing out on a cancelled Superpole race in Indonesia which could have given him a chance at winning the title - Rea won the two feature races. 

Rea added: "Yesterday was a very similar situation to today. There was no footage of the track, I wasn’t aware of the track conditions, so it is what it is. 

"Of course, I’m disappointed because I lost one more opportunity. Anything can happen in these conditions, but that’s racing. 

"The championship wasn’t lost here in Mandalika because that race was cancelled, I lost the championship in the middle of the season because of a lot of careless mistakes. 

"I’m looking forward to a little bit of rest now because this championship has been very condensed to a short period of time, a lot of races, a lot of testing and a lot of travelling. 

"So I’m looking forward to a bit of a break before we start testing again in December.”

Due to losing the title to Razgatlioglu which is also the first time Rea has been beaten since joining Kawasaki, the Northern Irishman will revert back to his old number, that being #65.

And while it’s a special number for the 34 year-old, Rea hopes to use it for just one season.  

"It’s so refreshing to be honest. I said to the guys in the garage after I lost ‘do we have an old 65 from 2015’ and they said ‘no’," added Rea when speaking about what the number means to him: “So instead they made that and I have no idea how they did that. 

"They must have had red stickers from motocard and they just made a 65. When I saw it on the bike it reminded me of joining Kawasaki and the change it made in my life. 

"It was really happy times, really motivating times and I’m excited to run it next year and hopefully I only have to use it for one year."