Northern Ireland’s just-crowned crowned 2015 World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea is already looking ahead to next season and defending his title with the Kawasaki Racing Team.

Rea (Kawasaki) took the 13th and 14th race wins of his remarkable championship-winning season during the 12th round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Magny-Cours in France at the weekend.

He also broke through the 500 points mark, with one round and two races still to go. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was second and then third at Magny-Cours, to draw himself closer to second place in the championship standings, albeit still 13 points behind Welshman Chaz Davies (Ducati).

And the 28-year-old Rea is still on a high since becoming the country’s first motorcycling World champion since Joey Dunlop and Brian Reid in 1986 after clinching the crown with fourth place in the first race in Jerez.

“I have one more year on my contract with Kawasaki in World Superbike and I’m really enjoying my life in the Superbike class, so the plan is to continue here,” said Rea.

“Winning the World championship is the most difficult thing I have done and defending it will be even more difficult. But I’m really excited.

“At the start of October we will launch the new bike in Barcelona.

“I’m proud to be part of this new project with Kawasaki. It gives me added motivation for this winter as we want to make the bike even better.”

Rea, who had an opportunity in the MotoGP paddock back in 2012, standing in for the injured Casey Stoner at Repsol Honda, says he doesn’t quite understand the Grand Prix paddock.

The down-to-earth Ballyclare lad believes the opportunity of a Grand Prix ride has now passed him by at 28, but holds no bitterness over certain political decisions that overlooked him in favour of other British riders.

“I love bikes and I love racing, and for sure people are happy to race there, but if you look at most of the faces in MotoGP, everyone is so serious and they don’t seem to be enjoying it,” explained Rea.

“MotoGP is the pinnacle of racing, but the fans don’t have the chance to see the riders.

“My philosophy is to enjoy my racing.

“I have been in the Superbike paddock for quite a few years now and I’m relaxed.

“The World Superbike paddock is full of kids and families.

“I like to have my wife and son with me, otherwise racing can be a very lonely sport.

“If you do it by yourself, it involves a lot of lonely hotel rooms and living out of a suitcase.”

It’s been a tremendous season for Rea since the move to Kawasaki, but he was candid enough to admit that joining 2013 WSB champion Tom Sykes at KRT was a huge gamble, and with it came a lot of pressure.

“Sykes was clearly the number one rider when I joined Kawasaki,” said Rea, whose rivalry with the Yorkshire man has been fiercely intense at times this season. Reflecting on his decision to move away from Honda, he added: “I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders coming to Kawasaki.

“In the beginning when I first came in, I felt like the number two rider in the team.

“Also, from the management side, I felt like I was the back-up plan.

“I always believed in my ability to do a good job, and race after race with the results we were posting, it levelled out the playing field.

“I could show my potential and I started to feel more comfortable.”

The fourth place in race one at Jerez, which clinched this year’s championship for Rea, was the first time he has been off the podium all season.

Race two produced a similar result, so there was no fairytale finish, but he got the job done, like the true professional he has become.

“After qualifying, I expected to win the race, but the bike felt very different,” he explained.

“I set a new lap record on the second lap, but then I developed a problem with the front tyre of the bike.

“I had many warnings, but I was only thinking of the championship, telling myself time and time again, ‘just be smart’. I just kept repeating it.

“We didn’t change anything for race two and indeed I encountered the same problem, but we got the job done and that’s all that matters.”

Rea finished behind Sykes, Davies and Holland’s Michael van der Mark in the opening race.

RESULTS AND STANDINGS:

RACE ONE:

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 19 laps
2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +4.711s
3. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR +14.683s
4. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR +22.772s
5. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR +30.136s
6. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R +31.528s
7. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R +32.129s
8. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +39.034s
9. Leandro Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R +61.396s
10. Niccolò Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199R +67.845s
11. Gianluca Vizziello ITA Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R +69.622s
12. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +76.782s
13. Luca Scassa ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R +79.531s
14. Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +86.459s
15. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R+90.260s
16. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +1 lap
17. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1 lap
18. Christophe Ponsson FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1 lap
19. Alex Phillis AUS Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1 lap
20. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1 lap
21. Markus Reiterberger GER BMW S1000 RR +2 laps

Did not finish

Pawel Szkopek POL Yamaha YZF R1 +5 laps
Randy de Puniet FRA Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +9 laps
David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +14 laps

RACE TWO:

1. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 21 laps
2. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R +2.848s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +6.551s
4. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR +10.202s
5. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +12.921s
6. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR +19.885s
7. Niccolò Canepa ITA Althea Ducati 1199R +24.248s
8. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 +27.248s
9. Luca Scassa ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R +29.220s
10. Alex Lowes GBR Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +32.799s
11. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R +37.183s
12. Leandro Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R +37.347s
13. Markus Reiterberger GER BMW S1000 RR +43.676s
14. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +45.943s
15. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta F4 RR +47.982s
16. Roman Ramos ESP GO Eleven Kawasaki ZX-10R+59.663s
17. Randy de Puniet FRA Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +75.533s
18. Gianluca Vizziello ITA Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R +75.160s
19. Christophe Ponsson FRA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +95.502s
20. Gabor Rizmayer HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1 lap
21. Imre Toth HUN Team Toth BMW S1000RR +1 lap
22. Alex Phillis AUS Grillini Kawasaki ZX-10R +2 laps

Did not finish

Ayrton Badovini ITA BMW Italia S1000RR +11 laps
Pawel Szkopek POL Yamaha YZF R1 +12 laps

STANDINGS: