Four WorldSBK races to go for Jonathan Rea: “I feel quite light, it’s exciting”

Six-time WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea has four rounds remaining in his career as a full-time racer, the first of which is coming up this weekend (5–7 September) at Magny-Cours, and the Northern Irishman is approaching the closing stages of his career with an apparently positive mindset.

Rea made the announcement of his retirement towards the end of the World Superbike summer break, and this weekend’s French Round will be the first time he has been at a circuit since the news broke.

The 38-year-old says it is a “quite exciting” period for him, although he’s trying to keep his focus on the races he has remaining with the Pata Yamaha team that is yet to decide on his replacement for 2026.

“I feel quite light, right now it’s quite exciting,” said Jonathan Rea ahead of the French Round, as reported by WorldSBK.com.

“I’m jumping into the unknown in 2026, whatever that will be. For right now, I’m trying to focus on the final four rounds of the season.

“It was important to me to make this announcement before Magny-Cours, so I could come into the round with the blast and the emotions having died down a bit.

“Magny-Cours has been a good track for me in the past, and I want to try to finish this chapter strong and competitive. Unfortunately, last year here I crashed with Bulega in the last chicane and ended up having to have surgery on my thumb, so I want to put the demons of 2024 away and have a really good weekend.”

Rea added that he would like to be back on the podium before the end of the season.

“The target is to give my 100 per cent every lap, every race,” he said. “To try to put a package together that can get the maximum out of me.

“If we can do that, we can aim for the podium.

“We’ve already been in the top five, so it’s a lofty target now, but if we can build some momentum in these races, I think we can do it.

“Estoril was also a strong round for us last year with a fourth and a fifth, so let’s see if the stars align and shoot for them.”