The 2020 WorldSBK Championship may be - mathematically speaking - going down to the wire but in reality there is little doubt Jonathan Rea will b🐻e crowned champion for a sixth consecutive season this weekend.

While a turnaround in fortunes at Magny-Cours allowed Scott Redding to keep his faint hopes alive into this weekend’s Estoril climax - the first time WorldSBK has raced at the Portugu﷽ese circuit since 1993 - Rea merely needs to canter in just one of the three racesꦆ to seal the inevitable.

While there have been examples of riders coming from behind entering a final race, most notably Ben Spies ✨in 2009 and Sylvain Gu🔥intoli in 2014, Redding has a vast 59 point gap to bridge to Rea.

In real terms, it means Rea needs only three points from the first race - 13th position - while anything low🙈er than that would still mean Redding has to win.

More of a challenge for Rea will be ܫto win race one, in that it would poignantly see him notch up a 100th  WorldSBK victory while breaking his own record to m👍ake it six career WorldSBK titles.

“It is super-exciting ♉going into the final round with a championship to play for after what has been a very strange year with only eight rounds. Going into the last round with an advantage in the standings is really positive. 

“Estoril is a new track for us so I am really excited to learn it. It is always a good challenge and I feel t🎐hat with the Ninja ZX-10RR we always arrive in new circuits with a strong base. Friday will be about learning the track, working out our potential and remaining calm. Because it is a new track I am sure we will find some challenges but the layout looks like it should suit us. 

“We will try to build the package to fight for the podiums in all racesꦰᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ, which is the target. It has been a strange season under this new working environment and this is our last opportunity to go racing this year. I hear we may have some fans back again at this round, like we did in France, which was super-nice.”

This weekend is also set to see the current generation Kawa♊saki ZX-10RR ‘retired’ ahead of a new model which is expected to be revealed next month.