Northern Irishman Jonathan Rea unveiled a tribute helmet in honour of fellow countryman Joey Dunlop at the Donington WorldSBK round.
2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the road racer’s passing, prompting Rea to design a tribute helmet to honour his legacy.
Rea told reporters at Donington that his visit to a tribute day in May, held in Dunlop’s hometown Ballymoney, County Antrim, influenced the creation of the tribute helmet.
“He’s a sporting icon, but especially in my country, Northern Ireland, he’s an amazing ambassador for the country, but an absololute legend,” Rea stated to media including Motorsport Week.
“And last month, there was a tribute day in his local town, tens of thousands of of people came and I went and rode there and one of his bikes was actually my grandfather’s bike.
“And I had this idea, you know, at the beginning of the year, I wanted to I knew it was 25 years since he passed.
“We came up with a nice design to incorporate his design with my sponsors and it looked amazing.”
The Ballymena-born rider secured his best result of the 2025 season for Yamaha in fifth after battles with injury in the first quarter of the season.
“When I sat in the grid today and just looking at it on my fuel tank, I felt pretty proud and lucky it didn’t jinx me because every time I’ve used a one off special helmet in the past, I’ve crashed.
“So I also had that in my brain. So it for sure, Joey [Dunlop] brought me some luck. And his wife, Linda’s here as well today, so it meant a lot,” he added.
Rea wore the same helmet for Sunday’s action, finishing sixth and 15th in the Superpole and Race 2, respectively.
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