One-day retirement postponed for Yamaha rider replacing injured Jonathan Rea

Jonathan Rea has been ruled out of this weekend’s Cremona WorldSBK as he continues to recover from injuries he picked up at the previous round at Magny-Cours.

Rea suffered a deep wound and a bone fracture in his right thumb when he crashed on the first lap of Race 1 the French Round on 7 September.

The injuries Rea suffered in France required specialist surgery on Saturday evening, which ruled him out of the Superpole Race and Race 2 on Sunday.

"Based on current medical advice, both from his surgeon in France and local medical team in Northern Ireland, Jonathan Rea will miss the Italian Round in order to allow the skin graft and internal repairs to his right thumb to fully heal," the Pata Yamaha team says. 

A return at the Aragon Round, which is scheduled for next weekend (27-29 September) remains a possibility.

Short retirement postponed

Rea will be replaced by Niccolo Canepa, the official Yamaha WorldSBK test rider, at Cremona. The Italian had announced his retirement from racing last week ahead of the Bol d'Or, in which Canepa and the YART Yamaha team rode to third place despite suffering a tyre failure in the first stint of the 24-hour race.

He then retired after the race on Sunday but, after a one-day break, is back in action by Tuesday.

“The news may come as a bit of a surprise since I announced my retirement a couple of weeks ago," Canepa admitted, "but, to be honest, I am really proud to do one more race weekend – especially with this team, Pata Prometeon Yamaha, Crescent and Yamaha’s official R1 WorldSBK with this crew. 

"I am really sorry for what happened with Jonathan and I wish him a speedy recovery. On the other side I am thankful to Yamaha for this opportunity. It’s always great to race for this team and to race for Yamaha in WorldSBK.

"Cremona is a track that I don’t know so well, I just did a few laps one day with the Yamaha R7 for the WorldWCR shakedown and I am aware that it is going to be a challenging weekend in terms of performance. 

"For my job as the WorldSBK test rider, we may have something to test and if I can give feedback to help the other Yamaha riders on track then it will be 'mission accomplished'. I am really happy and looking forward to the 'very last' race weekend of my career now.”

Canepa's presence in Cremona means the Pata Yamaha team will field an all-Italian line-up at the Cisalpine venue, with Andrea Locatelli on the other side of the garage.

“I’m excited to be back on track," Locatelli said, "especially in Cremona because at the test we did a really good job. I hope that we can find immediately a good feeling on the bike and on track."

Following the death of Italian racer Luca Salvadori last weekend, Locatelli heads to his home round with thoughts of his compatriot.

"Honestly, this week I think the Italian riders especially will race for Luca Salvadori," he said. "Luca was a special guy, a well-liked YouTuber and rider with the same passion as us – I am so sorry about what happened to him and the news of his passing was a shock to everyone, so for sure this week we will give something more also for this reason. 

"Cremona is our closest 'home race' and I think we will see a lot of warmth from the fans for this event. 

"Magny-Cours was a difficult weekend in tricky conditions, but I want to be positive and I am excited to be back on track and to give my all for everyone.

"We will enjoy the races like always, but it is also important to take some good results and this is our target."