World Superbike Mandalika
Rea explains return to #65 plate in Indonesia
Jonathan Rea says running #65 on his bike on the cool-lap down in Indonesia brought back memories of his 'life-changing' first year with Kawasaki in the World Superbike Championship.
Rachit Thukral Scherazade Mulia Saraswati
Edited: Nov 28, 2021, 9:12 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Rea retained his preferred #65 bike number when he switched from the struggling Honda outfit to Kawasaki in 2015, beginning an unprecedented period of success that would yield a record six titles in consecutive years.
Having opted to use #1 after each of championship successes, Rea last raced in a WSBK event with #65 on his bike almost six years to this date in the 2015 Qatar season finale.
However, after losing a titanic battle for the riders’ title to Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu last weekend in Indonesia, Rea ditched the #1 sticker on the front of his ZX-10RR for his favoured #65 number on his way to the pits in Race 2.
This will become Rea's new bike number in 2022, having ceded the right to use #1 to new champion Razgatlioglu.
Asked how it felt to see #65 on his bike again, Rea said: “So refreshing, honestly.
“I said to the guys in the middle of the days after I lost [the title], 'we have nothing prepared, do you have an old #65 from 2015?'. They said, 'no'.
“So they made that, I don't know how they made it, but they must have had red stickers from the Motocard [merchandise website], and they made this #65.
“When I saw it on the bike, it reminded me of joining Kawasaki and the change it made in my life. Those were really happy and motivating times, winning my first championship.
"I'm excited to run it next year. Hopefully I will only have to use it for one year. But it's a cool number.”
Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki
Razgatlioglu has expressed his intention to run #1 on his Yamaha next year, having famously used #54 as his bike number since making his WSBK debut in 2018 with Puccetti Kawasaki in deference to his manager and mentor Kenan Sofuoglu.
Before Rea, Sylvain Guintoli was the last rider to compete in WSBK with #1 on his bike, sporting the number reserved for the reigning champion on his Honda in 2015 after winning the previous year’s title with Aprilia.
“I have to speak with Kenan Sofuoglu [about] this number," said Razgatlioglu. "Yamaha, I don’t know [what they think], but I think it’s time for #1.”
During his previous stint with Honda between 2010-14, Rea raced with #65 on his CBR1000RR every year except 2012 - when he fielded #4 to highlight his position in the preceding year's standings.
Read Also:
- Rea has "no regrets" about WSBK title loss to Razgatlioglu
- World Superbike reveals 13-round 2022 calendar
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article World Superbike reveals 13-round 2022 calendar
Next article Van der Mark "expected more" from new BMW in 2021
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Rachit Thukral
MotoGP Malaysian GP: Full starting grid after Jorge Martin's withdrawal
MotoGP
MotoGP
Malaysian GP
3 h
MotoGP Malaysian GP: Full starting grid after Jorge Martin's withdrawal
Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders
MotoGP
MotoGP
Malaysian GP
17 h
Ai Ogura explains Marc Marquez battle in Malaysia sprint, denies Aprilia team orders
More from
Kawasaki Racing
Kawasaki signs Bassani to replace Yamaha-bound Rea in WSBK
World Superbike
World Superbike
Kawasaki signs Bassani to replace Yamaha-bound Rea in WSBK
Lowes to skip Aragon WSBK round after knee surgery
World Superbike
World Superbike
Aragon
Lowes to skip Aragon WSBK round after knee surgery
Bassani on pole position for Rea’s Kawasaki WSBK ride
World Superbike
World Superbike
Bassani on pole position for Rea’s Kawasaki WSBK ride
Latest news
Live: MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix as it happens
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
14 min
Live: MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix as it happens
Carson Kvapil gets Rodney Childers a clock and the O'Reilly Chase is wide open now
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Martinsville II
1 h
Carson Kvapil gets Rodney Childers a clock and the O'Reilly Chase is wide open now
Drivers believe softer bumpers will impact NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
1 h
Drivers believe softer bumpers will impact NASCAR Cup race at Martinsville
Hailie Deegan wins ARCA West finale as Huddleston claims another championship
ARCA
ARCA ARCA 2 h
Hailie Deegan wins ARCA West finale as Huddleston claims another championship
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe