‘Everything is open’ – Jonathan Rea hopes 2026 options in World Superbike Championship will become clearer over summer
Jonathan Rea hopes to have a clearer picture of his future in the World Superbike Championship this summer.
The Northern Ireland rider is out of contract at the end of the 2025 season with Yamaha.
Rea, the most successful World Superbike rider in history with six titles and 119 victories, could potentially remain with the Pata Maxus Yamaha team into 2026.
However, a number of appealing seats will be available next year, with reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu leaving the factory BMW squad to move into MotoGP with Pramac Racing to ride a Yamaha, while former champion Alvaro Bautista will leave the official Aruba.it Ducati squad at the end of 2024.
Rea has endured a tough time since joining Yamaha last year after nine seasons at Kawasaki.
The 38-year-old finished in a lowly 13th in the championship in his maiden campaign on the R1, while his prospects in 2025 were hampered by a crash during the final winter test at Phillip Island in Australia, which ruled him out of the first three rounds.
Rea said he expects to “understand more” about his future over the summer months.
“I don’t want to talk about my future just yet, especially after a tough weekend,” he said.
“[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 [in Hungary], 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,” he added.
“I still feel like I’m riding well. It’s just we’re not getting the best of my potential right now.
“As frustrating as it is, I just need to keep believing in myself.”
Last weekend, the Ballyclare man earned a best result of seventh at Misano in Italy in the Superpole race after finishing 12th in the opener.However, his weekend ended on a disappointing note when he crashed out unhurt in Race 2.
Rea is 18th in the championship with 16 points.