Rea heads to Donington Park with Fogarty record in sight

Jonathan Rea will have his first opportunity to secure the outright World Superbike race wins record at Donington Park having equalled Carl Fogarty at the top of the all-time list last time out at Imola.

The reigning World Superbike champion produced a flawless round at the Italian circuit to take a double victory to push his wins tally up to equal with Fogarty on 59 career wins each.

Having battled to his second career win in race two at Donington Park 12 months ago, Rea is focusing on using his home round to make further World Superbike history while increasing his already-ominous 47-point lead at the top of the standings.

“I’m looking forward to racing at Donington this weekend as it’s the closest thing I have to a home round feeling,” Rea said. “It’s nice to arrive there on the back of a strong weekend in Imola and we will work hard together to make sure we can fight for victory again.

“This weekend marks the first opportunity I have to surpass Carl Fogarty’s all time WorldSBK win record. I will have a lot of travelling support so let’s hope that’s enough to get it done.

“Of course, Donington is a different challenge, with its undulating layout and a mix of fast flowing sectors and stop and go sectors. This always makes it difficult to set up the perfect bike, but we will try to find a compromise.”

Rea is currently on his strongest run of results since his rampant end to the 2017 campaign when he claimed seven wins from the final eight races to seal his third World Superbike title. Rea has won four of the past six races while finishing in second place in the other two.