Gino Rea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Rea in 2012
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Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Tooting, London |
18 September 1989 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Team Kawasaki Go Eleven | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bike number | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Gino Daniel Rea (born 18 September 1989) is an English motorcycle racer of Italian descent. In 2017 he competes in the Supersport World Championship aboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R.
Rea was born in Tooting, London.
Rea was a successful Motocross and Supermoto rider before switching to circuit racing in 2007. He began racing in the European Superstock 600 series in 2007, finishing 12th overall with a podium at Valencia. In 2008 he finished 3rd overall, taking a win at Portimão plus four further podiums and two poles. Rea won the Championship in his third year claiming a win and 6 podiums in total, clinching the title by a single point in the final round at Portimão. He contested 32 races in the class, with 31 finishes including 12 podiums.
Rea tested Cal Crutchlow's 2009 title-winning Yamaha YZF-R6 in October 2009, before the team opted to withdraw, and ultimately joined the Intermoto team. He started 2010 with a solid run of top ten finishes. He finished fourth at Brno before taking his first podium at Silverstone. He finished a very close second to Eugene Laverty in the next round at the Nürburgring, but was excluded for a technical irregularity.
Rea stayed in the World Supersport Championship for 2011 and although he suffered many retirements due to mechanical issues and crashes, Rea took his first World Championship Win at Brno in front of ex-World Champion Fabien Foret and 2011 World Champion Chaz Davies. Rea landed on the podium at his home race in Donington Park and went into the final race of the year in 5th position in the Championship standings. A mechanical failure there ended Gino's season on a low and it meant being bumped down to 11th in the final standings.
Rea went on to test for the Gresini Moto2 team at Valencia and Jerez, leaving Valencia as the quickest rider earning him the Gresini Moto2 ride for 2012. An up and down year meant Rea could not progress the way he wanted to but managed to get on the podium at Sepang, Malaysia. Rea crossed the line in the lead but as the red flag came out, the results were put back 2 laps, robbing Rea of the win but still a 2nd position. At the final race of the year, Gino battled for a podium spot with the Moto2 World Champion Marc Marquez but fell at turn 2. Rea rejoined for an 11th position, finishing 21st in the Final Points standings.