Jonathan Rea ponders WorldSBK future: “There’s a couple of seats available”

Pata Yamaha WorldSBK rider Jonathan Rea’s contract comes to a conclusion at the end of this season, and the Northern Irishman is considering his options for the future.

While Rea is not guaranteed to be leaving Yamaha for the 2026 World Superbike season, the six-time World Champion could be in position to fill some gaps that have opened up.

Toprak Razgatlioglu, for example, will leave his factory BMW vacant next year as he moves to MotoGP, and Alvaro Bautista will leave the factory Ducati team at the end of 2025 as well.

Rea, though, is patient for now, and said that he expects to “understand more” about his future beyond this year during the summer.

“I don’t want to talk about my future just yet, especially after a tough weekend,” Jonathan Rea said after Race 2 at the Emilia-Romagna Round, as reported by WorldSBK.com.

“[It’s] something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot recently, what to do and what’s next.

“I’m sure we can understand more between Donington and Balaton, I guess in the summer break for sure.

“There’s a couple of seats now available, some rider movements.

“There’s a lot of noise.

“I think it’ll be some weeks or months before everything gets settled.

“I think everything’s open. I don’t want to speak too much because it’s in a bad moment, but I still have the fire inside.

“I still feel like I’m riding well. It’s just we’re not getting the best of my potential right now.

“As frustrating it is, I just need to keep believing in myself.”