Is this the strangest accident to have ever occurred in WorldSBK?
We're still not sure how this happened to Jonathan Rea... but we're impressed by the recovery!
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54 years 8 monthsYOU KNOW those stories where a mother can seemingly discover superhuman strength to lift a car should her child be trapped beneath it?
It seems the principle can apply in motorsport too, particularly when the adrenaline kicks in as a response to potentially losing ground in the WorldSBK Championship title fight, as 75-time race winner and quadruple World Champion Jonathan Rea this weekend.
In surely one of the strangest accidents to have ever occurred in international Superbike competition, let alone involving one of the title contenders, Rea suffered a low-side during Sunday's WorldSBK Superpole Race but instead of detaching from the Kawasaki ZX-10RR he clung onto the handlebars, with the force subsequently swinging the bike up and over him.
Coming to a halt mid-bend and on his back with the Kawasaki wheel-side up on top of him - briefly looking like an upturned tortoise - Rea held the bike aloft for a moment before swinging it back down and over onto its wheels, dragging himself up with it and remounting.
Remarkably, Rea - who was running second at the time - lost only a few seconds before recovering for fifth position.
It's impressive as it is baffling... watch and marvel.
For a better quality version - plus the addition of some commentary from a bewildered yet impressed James Whitham - CLICK HERE