Jonathan Rea begins recovery after French WorldSBK injury

After suffering a thumb injury at last weekend’s French WorldSBK, recovery is now underway for Jonathan Rea.

Rea’s wife, Tatia, posted a photo to her Instagram story of the six-times champion recovering in bed, hand bandaged up and lying with his dog.

The Yamaha rider fell at the final chicane at the end of lap one in WorldSBK Race 1 last weekend at Magny-Cours.

Assessments made that afternoon revealed a thumb fracture for the #65, along with a more immediately obvious deep wound, for which Rea required specialist treatment on Saturday evening leaving him unfit to race in Sunday’s two races.

His was one of several high-profile injuries at Magny-Cours last weekend.

The most prominent was that of Toprak Razgatlioglu, who hit a trackside barrier when he crashed in FP2 on Friday afternoon. The Turkish rider escaped without broken bones but was diagnosed with a collapsed lung on Friday evening, ruling him out of the rest of the weekend.

Superpole on Saturday saw Alvaro Bautista qualify 17th. He managed the situation well in Race 1 to finish second in the rain, but in the Superpole Race he crashed on the first lap and broke a rib, ruling him out of Race 2.

Nicolo Bulega crashed in Race 1 simultaneously with, but independently of, Rea at the final chicane on lap one. The Italian got away more lightly than Rea, but still had a contusion in his right shoulder and collarbone.

Nonetheless, Bulega was able to win both races on Sunday to reduce his championship points deficit to 55 behind Razgatlioglu.

Image credit: Tatia Rea/Instagram.