'Gutted' Jonathan Rea unsure of timeframe for World Superbike return after crash at Phillip Island test

The Pata Maxus Yamaha rider crashed on the first day of a two-day test at Phillip Island in Australia on Monday at Turn 2 suffering broken bones in his left foot.

Rea will hope to be fit for the second round at Portimao in Portugal from March 28-30 but remains uncertain over the timeframe required for his recovery.

“It isn’t possible to operate immediately because of the swelling and we’re speaking to a few different consultants about surgery and timeframe,” said the 38-year-old.

“It’s day by day really, first we will speak to some professionals, but I’m gutted.”

The Ballyclare man was feeling positive ahead of the Phillip Island opener after making some progress with the set-up of his YZF-R1 during pre-season testing at Jerez in Spain and Portimao.

Last year, Rea finished in an uncharacteristic 13th in the championship in a disappointing debut year as a Yamaha rider after making the switch from Kawasaki.

The 119-time race winner claimed a best result of third place at Donington Park in the Sprint race and described 2024 as the ‘most difficult’ season of his sparkling career.

Pata Yamaha team boss Paul Denning said Rea’s crash had ‘overshadowed’ the build-up to the first round of the championship, when Italy’s Andrea Locatelli will spearhead the team’s challenge.

“Our test and the start of Pata Maxus Yamaha’s season has been overshadowed by Jonathan’s accident and it’s difficult to put any spin on the story right now – especially when the winter tests rolling into the 2025 season have been so positive and Jonathan’s confidence and motivation was at such a high level,” said Denning.

“Being the champion and athlete that he is, we know that he will put everything into his recovery as he does into racing, so let’s view this episode in the story as simply a delay to seeing the real JR performing at his absolute best on the R1.

“We are a two-rider team – and we’re at one of Andrea Locatelli’s favourite circuits. While Loka’s winter test programme was not as positive as Jonathan’s, his confidence is rebuilding step-by-step here in Australia and the speed and feeling is developing nicely.

“Without any fundamental issues, the team has just been fine-tuning the package to give Loka the confidence he needs for these high-speed corners. It’s coming and we’re getting closer to the podium pace after every lap – we are in a good place to start the race weekend on Friday morning.”

Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega was fastest on both days of the test in Australia and topped the combined times by 0.482s from Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven Ducati), with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Ducati) third ahead of reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW).