Yamaha World Superbike star Jonathan Rea given green light to compete in opening practice at Cremona in Italy after injury return
Six-time World Superbike champion Jonathan Rea has been cleared to compete in the opening free practice session at round four of the series at Cremona in Italy on Friday.
The Pata Maxus Yamaha rider will be reassessed following the 45-minute session this morning prior to the afternoon practice session.
Rea suffered fractures to his left foot in a crash during a test at Phillip Island in Australia in February, which ruled him out of the first three rounds.
The 38-year-old made the decision to travel to Italy to compete this weekend following consultation with his medical team in Belfast.
He was given the green light to ride his Yamaha in FP1 after completing a pre-round medical check at the venue on Thursday.
Rea is making his debut at Cremona after missing the inaugural WSBK round at the Italian track in 2024 following a crash at Magny-Cours in France, which left him with a deep wound a bone fracture in his right thumb.
“It's good to finally be back,” Rea said.
"It’s been a long journey but in reality, I've only missed a few races – every day I lived to try to get back as fast as possible.
“It was nice to watch from afar as well as ‘Loka’ [Andrea Locatelli] got his first World Superbike win. Yamaha has been competitive as well in these first races so that gives us some confidence and motivation that all our hard work in the winter is paying off.
“Now I get to sample that tomorrow for the first time and blow off the cobwebs as fast as possible to get out there and enjoy riding the bike.
“The first weeks of course I was in a fixed cast, so it was tough as well – the pain was incredibly bad. Hours and hours were spent daily in the hyperbaric chamber.
“As soon as I could start training, I got myself out to Barcelona, and I spent the last three to four weeks there. When you're down and out and really injured it's hard to see a way forward, but the important part was, once you start feeling better, it got better so fast.”
Rea will be eager to show his true potential this year after struggling in his maiden season as a Yamaha rider in 2024, when he finished in an unfamiliar 13th position in the world championship standings, claiming a best result of third at Donington Park.