Watch Jonathan Rea Documentary on the BBC: 3 in a Row
Jonathan Rea didn’t win BBC Sport’s Sports Personality of the Year 2017 award, but he did finish second, and that’s pretty dang good for a Superbike racer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Four-time Olympic champion long-distance runner Mo Farah was the winner, with 83,524 votes to JR’s 80,567 – but the main take-away is that Rea badly beat F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who finished sixth with 60,627 votes.
But none of that’s important right now. What’s important is this pretty fun 45-minute documentary that ran on the BBC last night, a glimpse behind the scenes of Rea’s 2017 season, the one in which he became the first rider to win three WSBK championships running. He did it while shuttling his wife and two young sons from race to race in a caravan. That’s an RV to us Americans. Okay, some of the shuttling took place in a private jet, but it’s still pretty interesting to observe how much things have changed since Barry Sheene. C’mon, it’s Christmas, take 45 minutes for yourself.
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Three consecutive titles is a mighty achievement - an historic one too as it turns out. Rea is deserving of that distinction. He's put as much into racing as any rider could, and comes from a family long associated with motorcycle racing. Bravo to him (but I hope for the sake of the competition and the future of WSBK he doesn't get a 4th in a row).
sad thing is he probably wasted half a life time on the honda.