Jonathan Rea undergoes knee surgery after WorldSBK retirement

Following his crash in the Superpole Race at the final round of the 2025 WorldSBK season at Jerez, Jonathan Rea has undergone knee surgery.

Rea suffered a knee sprain and contusion at the Spanish Round, which was his final event as a full-time World Superbike rider, in a crash with Remy Gardner on the opening lap of the Superpole Race.

Rea’s condition deteriorated after an initial assessment at the circuit medical centre after the Superpole Race and ahead of Race 2 he was declared unfit due to functional impairment in his injured knee.

Having crashed out of Race 1 on lap three, Rea was forced to miss Race 2 and accept a point-less ending to his full-time WorldSBK career.

Almost two weeks on from the crash, Rea has announced via social media that he has undergone surgery in his native Northern Ireland on his injured knee.

“Successful surgery this morning on my knee,” Jonathan Rea wrote on Instagram in a post on 30 October.

“Huge thanks to Dr. Pooler Archbald and his team at Kingsbridge Private Hospital for taking such good care of me!”

Vierge arrives and impresses

Rea’s future remains unconfirmed for now, having retired from full-time WorldSBK racing at the end of the 2025 season. But he has remained open to the possibility of racing in 2026 on a reduced schedule, and has highlighted his interest in racing motocross next year.

His replacement at the Pata Yamaha team, Xavi Vierge, had his first taste of the Yamaha R1 at the post-season test in Jerez on 21 October, where he made an immediate impression on Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Sporting Director Niccolo Canepa.

"We are extremely happy because he [Vierge]gave us a lot of feedback," Canepa told WorldSBK.com after the first day of the Jerez test.

"He’s really precise on his feedback, integrated immediately with the crew, so I’m really happy, and, to be honest, he finished the day top of the Yamahas so it’s impressive. 

"I really appreciate his job for the first day, his comments, and I’m really looking forward to continue this testing together."