Jonathan Rea reflects on 'tough' World Superbike injury comeback as Yamaha rider leaves Cremona empty-handed
Jonathan Rea says his injury comeback in the World Superbike Championship was “tougher than expected” after the Northern Ireland rider failed to score any points at Cremona in Italy.
The 38-year-old was competing in his first races of the year after sustaining fractures in his left foot in a crash during testing at Phillip Island in Australia.
Rea was also racing at Cremona for the first time after missing the inaugural round at the Italian track in 2024 due to a thumb injury.
The six-time champion was 19th in Saturday’s opening race before finishing 16th in the Superpole race on Sunday and 18th in the final race.
Italy’s Nicolo Bulega clinched a treble on the Aruba.it Ducati, beating reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW) in all three races to extend his lead in the championship to 34 points after the first four rounds. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) finished third three times.
Rea, who finished 13th in the standings last year, will continue to work on his fitness ahead of the fifth round at Most in the Czech Republic (May 16-18).
“It’s been a tougher weekend than I expected, but I knew we had to start somewhere,” Rea said.
“The target of the weekend in my own mind was just to try and commit to racing, get passed fit and do my best to complete all three races with no mistakes.
“We completed that target, of course I wasn’t as competitive as I wanted to be, but considering I was only fully weight-bearing and walking without my air boot three weeks ago I can accept that.
“Coming back at Cremona, a track I didn’t race at last year and also super physical, I suffered more in my upper body than I did in my foot to be honest, because I was compensating quite a lot riding with my arms instead of my legs.
“Even though the bike didn’t feel perfect, the team have done everything to try to make me more comfortable and encourage me through this difficult weekend. I have no doubt better days are coming,” he added.
“It was always going to be a process whether I came back here or came back in Most, so today’s ‘weekend one’ and hopefully we can get on a roll forward from this point.”