WSB: Rea equals Foggy record with Imola double

Jonathan Rea etched himself further into the World Superbike history books this weekend as a double victory at Imola saw him equal Carl Fogarty’s all-time win record.

The three-time World Champion was in imperious form across the weekend, taking pole position before beating team-mate Tom Sykes to the top spot in race one by 3.755 seconds, taking his first win at the iconic Italian circuit since 2015.

He’d then go on to double up in race two, despite coming from ninth on the grid. Twice an Imola double winner in the last two years, Chaz Davies put up a fight towards the end of the race, but when Rea broke clear of the Welshman he was able to pull a four second gap to take his 59^th World Superbike victory.

The triumphs see Rea equal on wins with the WorldSBK legend that is Carl Fogarty and leaves little doubt that he will snatch the record from King Carl as the season continues.

“If you told me this when I was ten years old, I would have laughed at you”, Rea said. “Each victory is special for its own individual reason. I just want to thank all those people, since I joined Superbike in 2009 to the current day”.

“I’m just living the dream”, Rea admits. “I go home at night, and sometimes I’ll sit at home with a glass of wine with my wife, and I’ll just feel really fortunate to be in this position, to live my life and ride motorbikes. That’s what I loved doing when I was a kid, and now it’s my job and I’m winning races. It’s incredible”.