Jonathan Rea 16th in Superpole race at Cremona in Italy as World Superbike return from injury 'shock to the system'

The Pata Maxus Yamaha rider is making his comeback from injury after missing the first three rounds.

Rea suffered multiple fractures in his left foot following a spill during testing at Phillip Island in Australia in February.

He was passed fit to race at Cremona this weekend, where the six-time champion is competing for the first time after missing the inaugural round in 2024 through injury following a crash at Magny-Cours in France.

On Saturday, Rea was 19th in his first race of the year. The 38-year-old was hampered by several mistakes, including running off the track into gravel twice.

Championship leader Nicolo Bulega won both races on the Aruba.it Ducati from reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW), extending his lead in the standings to 29 points ahead of the final race of the weekend on Sunday (13:00 BST).

Ulsterman Rea, who is in his second season with Yamaha after finishing a disappointing 13th last year, said he was some way off being able to reach the “intensity” needed to challenge at the front.

Speaking after Saturday’s first race, Rea said: “It was nice to line up again and get that feeling, and after a really good start from my grid position I was maintaining a good pace – until I just started really struggling to stop the bike and used a lot of physical energy.

“I’m honestly just not ready to ride at that level of intensity and it was a bit of a shock to the system.

“There were a couple of areas where I made mistakes and was in the gravel twice, so I just had to regroup and ride at a slower pace to finish the race, as frustrating as that was.

“There’s a lot of good data, and I needed to stay out and do the laps physically to prepare because there’s no fitness like bike fitness.”

Former champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) finished third in both races.