Jonathan Rea reveals true extent of major WorldSBK injury

Jonathan Rea has spoken about the extent of the injury he picked up at the beginning of the 2025 WorldSBK season ahead of his first race of 2026 in Portimao.

Rea will ride for Honda this weekend, but it was during the final preseason test in his last Yamaha season that he suffered arguably the worst injury of his career that kept him out for three rounds at the start of 2025.

The six-time World Superbike Champion crashed at turn two on the first day of the Phillip Island test last year. His Yamaha R1 landed on his left foot, which caused significant damage including multiple fractures.

Rea was relatively tight-lipped about the extent of his injuries last year, but now no longer a part of the full-time WorldSBK grid – and after surgeries over the winter that have removed the metalwork inserted into his foot to help it heal – he has been more open about what he went through in 2025.

“In the wintertime, I tried to recover from my injuries,” Jonathan Rea told WorldSBK.com ahead of his 2026 Honda debut in Portugal.

“I had two surgeries, one to repair the damage to my right knee at Jerez and secondly, just five weeks ago, to remove the metalwork in my left foot. 

“Honestly, I’m back to being in a really good way. I couldn’t explain how much pain I was in last year to the media and my rivals, but last year after the crash at Phillip Island, I couldn’t walk without pain. 

“Now this is gone, I feel so much better. I’ve been able to train better and much more lightly as well because I have no metal plates in my foot. 

“Looking forward to this and seeing how we can really get on at a track that’s familiar.”

“Very much still retired”

Rea’s HRC debut for this year is coming as a result of a continuing injury problem for Jake Dixon, who suffered wrist fractures during the final preseason test at Phillip Island ahead of the opening round of the season. He’s still unfit, and so Rea got the call-up.

The Northern Irishman, though, is still insistent on his status as a retired racer, but felt he had no choice but to accept Honda’s request that he rides in Dixon’s place this weekend.

“I can very much assure you that was an Instagram post; I’m very much still retired,” Rea insisted.

“Unfortunately, it’s a replacement ride for Jake [Dixon], so first and foremost, we send him all our best wishes. He’ll join us this weekend at the track. I hope he can return as fast as possible. 

“When Honda HRC ask you to replace a rider, they’re not really asking you; it was kind of my job to come here. 

“I thought, ‘Why not?’. It’s a good opportunity to get behind the lights again.”

Rea added that he’s enjoying his time with Honda after two difficult years with Yamaha.

“I didn’t finish in the best way at Jerez,” he said. “I’m enjoying this new challenge. I actually really enjoyed the bike during the winter. In the limited number of laps we did, I enjoyed it.”

Finally, Rea added that he does not yet have any targets for this weekend and that he is waiting for Friday’s practice sessions to be over to see where he fits in to the 2026 World Superbike field.

“I don’t have results or goals in mind,” he said, “because I’ve not done so many laps and definitely not competitive laps with the current grid. 

“We’ll have to see how we are in Free Practice 1. Probably more of a conversation for the end of Friday. 

“For me, I have no goals, just try to come out of here healthy and to work in a good way with the team, enjoy and keep moving the bike forward. If we can tick those boxes, it’ll be a successful weekend.”