ON THE CUSP OF TRUE GREATNESS
It’s been an interesting year in the racing world, where we’ve seen riders who’ve already taken multiple titles secure yet another. In BSB we had Shane Byrne winning his sixth British Superbikes crown, meaning the press office will be working feverishly to figure out a zingy rhyming catchphrase for 2018, the rhyme being related to the number seven. Six titles is a phenomenal number, and we really can’t rule out him. By the time he eventually decides to retire, he’ll have won so many it’ll take decades for anyone to best his tally.
Then in WSB there’s Jonny Rea, with his third on the bounce (the first man to do so), Carl Fogarty’s four-title record now in danger of being matched. His race win record will undoubtedly fall in 2018, short of anything bizarre happening to Rea. Jonny has been truly outstanding, he and the Kawasaki ZX-10R are indeed one entity, meaning his main rival Chaz Davies has had to over-ride the fickle Ducati Panigale time and again, to his cost, to try and beat him. Can Rea be defeated in 2018? His recent hegemony in the class would suggest not, even with performance sapping rules coming into place. In fact, it’s highly likely that Chaz’s skills making the Ducati work, and subsequent rev reductions, will in fact hurt him even more than the restrictions put on Kawasaki will hurt Rea. The first few races will tell all.