Jonathan Rea poised for Suzuka 8 Hours return in Japan with Honda
Jonathan Rea could bid for a third victory at the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours race in Japan in the summer.
The Honda HRC test rider made history in 2012 when he became the first British rider to win the legendary race riding for the FCC TSR Honda team.
Northern Ireland’s Rea toasted another big win at Suzuka as part of Kawasaki Racing’s official squad in 2019, when he was joined in the team by Leon Haslam and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Rea called time on his illustrious racing career at the end of last season, when he went into the history books as the most successful rider in the World Superbike Championship with six successive world crowns and 119 victories.
He took up an offer to join Honda as a test rider and the 39-year-old is poised to return to Suzuka in July as part of Honda’s factory effort with MotoGP rider Johann Zarco and Takumi Takahashi – last year’s race winners for the Japanese manufacturer.
Rea also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of racing again in World Superbikes as a wild card for Honda.
There is speculation the Ballyclare man could fill in for Jake Dixon at round two at Portimao in Portugal from March 27-29.
New Honda signing and World Superbike rookie Dixon was ruled out of the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia after fracturing his wrist in a crash during the final test at the track in February.
Rea replaced Dixon in the squad at the latest test last week at Portimao, where Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra made his comeback following injury.
“There's going to be some opportunities for me to race this year, so we keep an open mind on that,” said Rea.
“There might be some possibilities of wild cards. I’m going to do some testing for the Suzuka 8 Hour race as well.
“Right now we’re quite open to do many things, but of course the main part of my job will be testing and development work.”
Rea recently underwent surgery to have screws and plates removed from his foot, which were inserted following a crash at Phillip Island in 2025.
The Suzuka 8 Hours race from July 3-5 will be the third round of the Endurance World Championship.