Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea confirms Kawasaki exit amid Yamaha links for 2024

Rea, linked with a move to Pata Yamaha, will be released from his contract with KRT, which was due to run until the end of 2024.

Ulsterman Rea, the most successful World Superbike rider ever, said: “I want to thank everyone at KMC and KRT for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to prove myself at the highest level.

“I have learnt and grown so much as a person and a rider since the first day throwing my leg over the factory Ninja ZX-10R superbike.

“Winning six consecutive World Superbike Championships will always be the most obvious highlight of my time with Kawasaki; but it will also be the amazing memories, the life lessons and the laughs that I will take with me into the future.

“And, for sure, it’s our mission to complete the 2023 season as strongly and with as much commitment as we have always shown.”

Rea said he was ‘filled with pride’ at the success he had achieved since joining Kawasaki in 2015 and winning a record six consecutive world crowns.

“Now, looking back on our journey, it fills me with pride at the joy and happiness we have brought Kawasaki fans and Kawasaki owners around the world,” said the 36-year-old.

“This is not a goodbye, because you don’t say goodbye to family, but it is simply the end of this incredible chapter.

"I wish everyone at KRT the best of luck for the chapters that will surely follow. See you at the track.”

Rea is poised to take over the vacant seat in the Pata Yamaha team left by Toprak Razgatlioglu, who has signed for the factory BMW Motorrad team next season.

The Ballyclare man’s unprecedented title-winning streak came to an end in 2021 when he was edged out by Razgatlioglu.

Last year, Rea finished third behind Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista and Razgatlioglu, winning six races.

He is currently third in the 2023 standings, a huge 176 points behind the dominant Bautista and 102 adrift of Razgatlioglu with four rounds to go.

The World Superbike Championship resumes this weekend at Magny-Cours in France after the summer break.

Rea clinched his first victory of the season last time out at Most in the Czech Republic. He has won a record 119 races in World Superbikes, achieving 104 of those wins with Kawasaki and 15 as a Honda rider since his full-time debut in 2009.