Chaz Davis was named his “career rival” by Jonathan Leah when he concluded his time as a full-time racer at World BK.
Rea and Davies won the title for the title for the fourth consecutive season between 2015 and 2018, with Rea at the top every time.
Meanwhile, Davis won 25 races and retired at the end of the 2021 season as the most won rider on the world superbike without a class title.
Welsman finished runner-up in the REA in three of his four seasons, missing out on the Tom Sykes silver medal in 2016, when Davis came in third place in 2016.
It is him that Rea considered the main rivals of his career as a result of Davis’ strength in these years.
“Undoubtedly Chaz Davis,” Jonathan Leah held a special press conference at Manny Course when asked to select a rival from his world superbike career.
“He’s my career rival or superbike era at my Prime. I think Chaz would have won the same thing if he hadn’t won the 3, 4, 5 world titles.
“He was the guy who wanted to bring out my best in the truck, but he also got off the truck, and I was really motivated at home.
“Chaz was a professional clever guy, enjoying praise over the weekend, enjoying a few beers on Sunday nights, but then heading home.
“It was good and you never knew – like the top rack of this era (razgatlioglu) – if there were no gaps there, Chaz would make a gap.
“After the race, it was a freezing relationship so I hope we can really enjoy it. I honestly enjoyed it, but he was a rival in my career and I really enjoyed it.”