Jonathan Rea on Retirement: “It’s an easy decision to make when I’ve had my success I’ve had in my career.”
Jonathan Rea announced his full time retirement from racing in the summer break before Magny-Cours. There are no words to describe his brilliant career. Rea will forever be ingrained into WorldSBK history and to so many fans as the face of an era, he won six consecutive titles at the highest level between 2015 and 2020. He has shown class at every level. As an aspiring journalist in 2015 before now having my place in the paddock, I will never forget meeting Jonathan as a starry eyed 13-year-old under the night lights of the Lusail International Circuit in 2015 – back when WorldSBK used to race in the Middle East. His career has inspired a number of riders and fans alike.
At Magny-Cours on Thursday, the Yamaha rider spoke to the media revealing he made in decision to retire in Balaton Park after the Hungarian Round of the WorldSBK: “I was sharing a glass of wine with my wife and my mate from back home. It’s been something I have been thinking about for a long time. It has been a combination of many different things. At the beginning of my season, I had two huge crashes at Phillip Island that damaged a lot of confidence – a lot of my body as well. I then repeated the same crash, had a big injury and I worked super hard in that injury period to come back to 100%.”
After Most, a total of 12 number of riders crashed across the weekend in the Superbike category. Rea was one of them: “I remember going through the gravel and doing a shoulder check. I see the bike coming at me and I thought, what am I doing? I have this feeling that it is less exciting now to come to a race than it is to stay at home. It was a brave decision to make but for me it was the correct one.”
Rea started in the championship in 2009 on a Honda before switching to a Kawasaki in 2015. The Northern Irish rider had spent his entire Superbike career – including in British Superbikes – on a Honda before switching to the Kawasaki outfit in 2015. He then went on to win six consecutive titles and stayed with the Kawasaki team until he switched to the Yamaha outfit replacing Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2024.
Rea is the most successful rider in the history of WorldSBK and has racked up 119 victories, 264 podium finishes, 44 pole positions and 104 fastest laps: “It’s an easy decision to make when I’ve had my success I’ve had in my career. It was much easier because I’m not angry. I’m not frustrated.”
When looking towards the future, Rea spoke of not knowing what’s next but grateful acceptance of it: “As a rider, I have always had the luxury of halfway through one chapter, of understanding what the following chapter was going to look like. I’ll close this one and still not understand what’s next. I’m in no rush […] Superbikes gave me an incredible life and I love the people, I love motorcycles. I don’t retire bitter. I think from a mental standpoint as an individual I want to stay involved in some capacity, whatever that can be.”
Rea has seen so many riders come through now with the longevity of his career. He has faced many worthy opponents over the years, battling against Tom Sykes, Álvaro Bautista and more recently Toprak Razgatlioglu however, one competitor in particular stuck out for him at Magny-Cours: “My career rival in my primes year of super bike, if I hadn’t have won those three, four, five world titles, Chaz [Davies] would’ve. He was a guy that brought out the best in me on the track and also off the track. I was really motivated at home. Chaz was a professional, clever guy. […] I would turn myself in and out, come back and try to beat him even more to return the favour.”
Chaz Davies was another talent of WorldSBK Rea’s prime. Tallying up 32 wins, 99 podium finishes, 7 poles and 37 fastest laps in 263 race starts. Rea said he enjoyed racing against Davies: “I hope after racing we can really enjoy that with each other because it was a frosty relationship and I really enjoyed that part of it.”
Rea’s career has been one full of plaudits and adulation. Everything the Northern Irishman has achieved makes him statistically the best to have ever done it in WorldSBK.
