Jonathan Rea has “options” for WorldSBK 2026: “It’s about taking the right one for me”

Out of contract at the end of this season, Jonathan Rea says he has “options” for the 2026 WorldSBK season.

The six-time World Superbike Champion has been strongly linked with a move Ducati throughout 2025 as his Yamaha career continues to struggle to provide the kind of results that would satisfy a rider with 119 race wins.

Asked by WorldSBK.com about social media comments saying he should move to a Ducati team in 2026, Rea reinforced the position he has taken when asked about his future in recent weeks: that he’s focused on the present.

“I see the same things,” Jonathan Rea said on Thursday at the Balaton Park circuit, where the Hungarian Round, round eight of 2025, will take place this weekend.

“I’m not stupid, I’m on social media and Instagram – it’s a platform that gives everyone an opinion.

“Let’s wait and see, focus now on the weekend and try to do a really good job and I’m sure that we’ll understand more during the summer break.”

Rea was then asked if he could make his decision on 2026 during the summer break.

“Or later,” he said.

“I have some options, let’s say, but it’s [about] taking the right one for me, to understand what’s best for me.”

“Excited” for Balaton

This weekend marks the eighth round of the 2025 season and the first in the series’ history to take place at Balaton Park.

Rea, a World Superbike veteran of over 15 years, appreciates the novelty of a new venue.

“Excited to start,” he said. “It’s always nice to come to somewhere new, to understand the circuit, the challenge of learning somewhere new, experiencing new surroundings, new fans – it’s good for me, good for Superbike.

About the circuit itself, Rea – who was not present at the Balaton test at the end of June – said it would not be possible to assess the competitiveness of himself and the YZF-R1 at the circuit until laps had been completed on Friday.

“We have to wait and see,” he said.

“We’re optimistic, of course, we have to be optimistic starting starting the weekend.”

He added that Yamaha, despite not going to Balaton with production bikes in June, would be able to count on data from the MotoGP test at the circuit to get some kind of base understanding; additionally, that he would be starting with his Donington setup after a positive weekend in the UK.

“The Yamaha MotoGP team were here testing, so we have some idea of speeds,” he explained.

“It’s completely new. We’re going to take the setup from Donington – when we arrived in Donington the bike felt quite good there, so let’s hope that that works.”

Finally, Rea spoke about the Superpole Race on Sunday, which will mark the 1,000th race in WorldSBK history.

“I’m proud to be a part of that milestone in Superbike,” the Northern Irish rider said.

“Superbike is my life! It’s given me an incredible life.

“I feel really part of this family, so it will be nice to celebrate that milestone with everyone here.”