'Disappointing end to Saturday' for World Superbike legend Jonathan Rea at Assen
Jonathan Rea was left disappointed as the Honda HRC rider finished 17th in the opening race of the weekend at Assen in the Netherlands.
Rea is standing in for Jake Dixon in the factory squad, who is sidelined with a fractured wrist.
The Northern Ireland legend was “frustrated” after qualifying in 18th position in Superpole at the legendary Dutch TT circuit, where Rea has won a record 17 races throughout his career.
The 39-year-old was Honda’s sole representative in Saturday’s race after Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra was ruled out following a crash in FP3. The former Moto2 GP rider will be assessed ahead of Sunday’s Superpole race and Race 2.
Italian Nicolo Bulega won the race on the Aruba.it Ducati for his seventh straight victory, extending his title lead. Team-mate Iker Lecuona was second with British rider Sam Lowes making it an all-Ducati top three on the Marc VDS Racing machine.
Rea said: “A disappointing end to Saturday. In Superpole, I did a 33.8, which felt fast to me, but unfortunately, I was really frustrated when I saw the position.
“Then I made a bad start to the race. The bike wouldn't go forward off the line, so I lost some positions. I felt okay with the bike in the early stages and the grip was not so bad.
“But then I was fighting with another rider, and I lost track position to the group in front. I was struggling with some areas of the bike, and then the rain came, so I just concentrated on avoiding mistakes and bringing it home.
“We have a lot of data to look through now to try to improve, and I think today’s race highlighted some of our weak areas that we can focus on and give the engineers something to think about.”
Rea quit full-time racing last year before taking on a new role for 2026 as a test rider for Honda.
In World Supersport, Honda wildcard Jack Kennedy from Dublin finished 22nd in the first race.
On Sunday, the World Superbike Superpole race is at 10:10 BST with Race 2 at 14:30 BST.