Make it or Break It? Jonathan Rea Did Both and Now He's a Nominee for BBC's SPOTY Award

“They didn’t understand I don’t have a normal brain,” Jonathan Rea, 30, on what it took for him to overcome not just past injuries but other hurdles in his life as well, including his newly-found fame, bullying, and medical troubles. Rea is on the fast track to joining Carl Fogarty at the top after winning three Superbike World Championships in a row, an unprecedented success rate.

 

(Image: Twitter)

How he became mentally stronger? Easy. He merely practiced self-love and self-acceptance. And he had children.

 

His tenacity is commendable for a man his age and industry where 30-year-old racers are seen as “too old” to be on the tracks. But among Valentino Rossi (38), Andrea Dovizioso (31), and Rea himself, we don’t think they’re doing too bad considering the Irishman was shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

 

(Image: Twitter)

 

But although he won 16 out of 26 races this season, there were moments where “it all seemed pretty unlikely”, he mentioned to The Guardian. Accordingly, he touched on “his toughest time”, a particularly difficult memory, saying that it was “almost a career-ender”.

He was 17 in the year 2004 when it happened - that one frightening accident that would create in him a deep resolve to continue pursuing his dreams.Despite being “too big for the 125 class”, Rea said he got “an opportunity on a Honda Supersport bike”. He managed on the Supersport eventually, though we shouldn’t speak so fast. After six races, he broke his femur “so badly” that his doctors told him we “would never race again”. Not really the words an aspiring professional motorcycle racer would want to hear at the very beginning of his career.

While he went into Turn One on a Scottish track, his brakes “completely failed” on him whilst at 160 mph. He had no concussions nor was he unconscious. But his femur was outside of his leathers. “It took four operations to fix my leg,” Rea said. But before the doctors found a solution – taking a bone from his hip – he was told that he had no chances at racing ever again. Here he alluded to his strong-willed defiance to his then-reality – “They didn’t understand I don’t have a normal brain.” Unwilling to wallow in self-pity and despair, he added that each time the hospital staff told him that he just simply would not be able to overcome his injury, he had “new motivation” to prove them wrong.

With the encouragement of his family, of course, and his PT, Darren Roberts, he was “rebuilt”. It took him only eight months to mount a bike again. And although there were certainly a few crashes in the future and even more surgeries, he was told by a great German surgeon that all he really needed was aggressiveness for his damaged bone to heal. In hindsight, Rea already had all the aggression and confidence he needed.

Then, on his childhood, he said he remembered being beaten up and “threatened loads” for the simple reason that he was in motocross practice instead of taking part in school sports or playing rugby with the other kids. Although, to know Jonathan Rea is to love him, so we sort of pity those kids for not having spent time with the now-SPOTY-shortlisted racer. It was probably all they wanted, really.

Currently, Rea has a contract with Kawasaki until the end of 2018. Nevertheless, there are still rumours circling that he would be moving to MotoGP that have intensified when he replaced the injured Casey Stoner for two races in 2012 and finished seventh and eighth respectively.

Rea further revealed that although he wants to stay with Kawasaki, he is thinking about how he rode with the MotoGP team at the Jerez Test in 2016 and 2017 that has a bike with 50 hp and weighs less than 15 kg. Quite cheekily, Rea goes on to say that something inside of him wants to challenge himself in the same circumstances but firmly stated that it is only when a leading MotoGP team approaches him will he even consider switching.

He is definitely committed to maintaining his position as he stated, “It’s kind of scary that the only way is down but I want to stay where I am, at the top, a whole lot longer.”

Source: The Guardian