Jonathan Rea gives ‘not very optimistic’ update on WorldSBK return date

The most recent YouTube vlog from Jonathan Rea has given detail into the Northern Irish rider’s recovery from injury.

Pata Yamaha rider Rea suffered multiple fractures in his left foot during World Superbike preseason testing at Phillip Island last month, a few days in advance of the first round of the 2025 season.

The six-time World Champion was forced to miss the opening round in Australia, flying back to Northern Ireland for surgery a couple of days after the crash, and will miss round two at the end of March at Portimao, as well, where he will be replaced by Yamaha MotoGP test rider Augusto Fernandez.

Rea said that there is still no fixed date for when he expects to be back on the bike in his most recent vlog.

“We’re day four now post-surgery, Tuesday,” Rea said.

“I’m still in a fixed cast, so there’s no weight-bearing, the pain is still pretty nasty to be fair, I just feel like it’s throbbing quite a bit and it’s worst when I keep it up. I spoke to the foot and ankle team last night, and [...] apparently the wound wasn’t amazing so they want to keep me in the fixed cast a bit longer, I was due to get that off on Monday.

“My target of getting back on the bike is– you always have a target to work to, but it’s day-by-day, week-by-week in these cases, and they weren’t very optimistic about that. So, let’s see day-by-day.”

Later in the vlog, Rea gave another update from a few days later, detailing the lengths he’s going to in order to recover as quickly as possible and to return to racing.

“It’s a week since I got operated on and what a journey it’s been,” he said.

“It’s been highs and lows. This week is [...] about wound management– my leg is in a fixed cast; I’ve got a little beanie hat around it right now because I’ve just been out and about for breakfast, trying to get out of the house.

“[I’ve been] trying to do everything I can to avoid any infections or setbacks, and then as soon as we can see that we can work around my foot it will be onto the ultrasound machine, the bone healing machine, I’ve got my hyperbaric chamber [that] I’ve already clocked about six hours in.

“So, just anything I can do to get back on the bike as fast and as safe as possible.

“I’ve said enough already about quietly going into this season, we were working under the radar, but there’s a real reason for optimism.

“Last year as a team I feel like we sort of tried to manufacture optimism, and this year, working with Uri [Oriol Pallares, Rea’s crew chief], completely different dynamic in the team, everyone was pretty excited to start the year.

“So, it just feels like a bit of a kick in the nuts really to start the year like this. But it gives us some hope that when I come back I’ll be able to feel good on the Yamaha R1.

“Again just such an unfortunate crash. It was such a small little crash but I got tangled up in the bike when it was somersaulting, and it came down on my ankle.

“There’s a part of me that watches that, that thinks I’m incredibly unlucky, but there’s a part of me that [thinks] I’m so lucky that I wasn’t 180-degree flipped there, because if that landed on my torso or upper-body that could’ve been a bigger nightmare than we’re suffering right now.”