Jonathan Rea has no regrets over Yamaha decision as record six-time World Superbike champion nears end of glittering career
Jonathan Rea has no regrets over his decision to leave Kawasaki and join Yamaha, and says his almost two seasons with Paul Denning’s World Superbike team have been a “really good experience”.
Rea is nearing the end of his record-breaking career after announcing during the summer break that he would retire from full-time racing after the final round at Jerez in Spain in October.
The Ulster rider won six consecutive world crowns at Kawasaki and shattered a raft of records, but since making the switch to the Yamaha R1 ahead of the 2024 season, the 38-year-old has achieved a single pole, in the wet at Assen, and a podium finish in the Superpole race at Donington Park last year, when he placed third.
Rea – 12th fastest overall in free practice on Friday at Aragon in Spain – would love to scale the podium one final time as he prepares for the final three rounds of his glittering career.
However, regardless of whether he achieves a rostrum finish before bowing out at Jerez, Rea says he will remember his time at Yamaha for “never giving up”.
“These two years with Yamaha will be remembered for never giving up, for having the motivation as a group every weekend to try to get out of the tough moments,” he said.
“It’s been tougher than we both expected. I believe in the project, the people and myself but I haven’t been able to extract that. That’s tough and I have to shoulder some of that; Yamaha have to shoulder some of that.
“It’s an incredibly good group of people, good humans, so I’ve enjoyed it. It’s taught me a lot about myself.
“I’ve learnt to improve as a rider and with feedback. I’m grateful for the opportunity because there’s nothing worse than going away and thinking, ‘What if I didn’t try it?’. I did and I’m grateful for the opportunity and the lessons I’ve learnt. It’s been a really good experience.”
Looking ahead to round 10 at Aragon, Rea said he was eager to maintain his momentum from Magny-Cours in France last time out, where he found himself in contention for a podium in the final race before dropping back in the closing stages, finishing sixth.
“I’m really looking forward to Aragon, it’s a circuit that I enjoy – it’s got great character and a little bit of everything,” said Rea, who is 18th in the standings.
“From fast-flowing sections, to sections where you really need to stop the bike and then of course, the long back straight to negotiate.
“But, it’s important to be fast and we hope to find the flow that we enjoyed in Magny-Cours. Let’s see what the weekend holds.
“The weather looks like it’s going to be consistent, so we will try to maximise our opportunities in Aragon.”
Reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW) topped the times in free practice by 0.351s from Italy’s Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati), with Sam Lowes (Marc VDS Racing Ducati) in third ahead of Rea’s Pata Maxus Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli.
Rea was 1.079s off the top spot on the combined times.
The opening race on Saturday is at 13:00 BST with the Superpole race on Sunday at 10:00 BST and Race Two at 13:00 BST.