Although it was within what was predictable seeing how the last two seasons had gone, Jonathan Rea’s decision to end his racing career left a void in WSBK. But now it seems that the six-time champion is not going to retire permanently.
Furthermore, Rea’s end to the season has not gone exactly as everyone expected and, in fact, as a result of his fall in Jerez, he has had to undergo surgery to repair the injuries he suffered in his knee. As usual, the Northern Irishman underwent surgery in Belfast by Dr. Pooler Archibald and according to reports, it was a success.
Now the next step is to recover before starting your new job. Although there is still no official confirmation, it is taken for granted, as revealed by Moto.it, that in the coming days the agreement between Rea and HRC will be made official, so that Jonathan will become a test rider for the Honda CBR1000RR.
We must not lose sight of the fact that, despite all the efforts made by Team HRC Superbike, the investment and the good foundation of the production motorcycle, the results have not finished arriving for one reason or another.
Rea has been the last driver to have achieved success with Honda… and that was more than 10 years ago.
And it’s not just that, it’s that Rea, who was a Honda rider in the WSBK before moving to Kawasaki, managed to win fifteen races and add more than forty podiums. Since then, and despite the almost endless list of drivers and the millions of euros invested, Honda has only achieved one victory, in 2016, with the missing Nicky Hayden and in the water. That is to say, since Rea the Honda CBR1000RR has not achieved any dry victory.
Therefore, once the collaboration is made official, in which Rea will not only be a test driver, but also a brand ambassador, it will in a way close the professional circle that started with Honda in Supersport.
Will we see Rea compete again? Based on his statements, it would not be surprising to see him in a race like the Suzuka 8, which he has already won twice, one of them with Honda. Another thing will be seeing him compete again in the WSBK, perhaps that will be more complicated, although if we literally listen to his statements it is not completely ruled out:
“I won’t compete in another championship. I don’t want to continue full-time, but I would like to work with a manufacturer and run some important event. Now I only think about resting and calmly deciding what I want to do.”
In any case, what we need now is to wait for the official confirmation that the most famous 65 since Loris Capirossi becomes part of the HRC project.
