It wasn’t the way it was meant to end, but Jonathan Rea’s illustrious career as a full-time world superbike rider ended at Jerez in Spain on Sunday.
A crash in the morning Superpole race meant JR wasn’t able to line up for what would have been his 471st outing. His 18-year career in the WorldSBK paddock saw the Ulsterman, 38, leave the series with a record six world titles, 119 race wins and 264 podium finishes.
He proved almost unstoppable in his Kawasaki years, winning the title every season between 2015 and 2020, but two final years at Yamaha, which he had hoped would reignite his career, proved challenging and he would secure just a solitary podium finish on board the R1.
Picked up in an X Factor style talent contest held by Honda and energy drinks company Red Bull in 2002, the young JR cut his teeth in the British championships between 2003 and 2007. Coming from a racing family (his father was a former Isle of Man TT winner) and a motocrossing background, Rea quickly moved through the ranks and was drafted into Honda’s main World Supersport team for 2008.
He finished second overall in his rookie season, winning three races, and was fast tracked into the World Superbike team for the at the end of the year campaign. He stayed at the Dutch run Ten Kate Honda team for a further six seasons, winning races but never quite having the package to challenge for a title.
All that changed in 2015, when he signed for Kawasaki. It was a surprising move in some ways. Jonathan had been a Honda man through and through, but the Fireblade wasn’t the most competitive machine and, despite being part of the team that won the 2012 Suzuka Eight-Hour, not to mention some solid stand in MotoGP rides for Casey Stoner that same year, Honda seemed reluctant to give him a full-time series in the premier class.
Kawasaki had their full focus on superbikes, with the ZX-10R Ninja offering a step up in competitiveness over his previous steed. Joining former world champion Tom Sykes, an old sparring partner from his British championship days, he won first time out and dominated the championship, despite some titanic battles with Ducati rider Chaz Davies. He would repeat his success the following year, with Davies and Sykes again his big rivals, before taking two even more comprehensive titles. After announcing his retirement, Jonathan named Davies as the biggest rival of his career.
Rea showed his true grit in 2019, when Ducati-mounted Alvaro Bautista came out of the blocks with 11 straight wins (JR finishing second in those first 10) but a remarkable mid-term turnaround saw him win18 of the last 27 races to take a fifth consecutive title. The sixth and final one came in the pandemic-affected 2020 season.
Ducati riders Davies and Scott Redding pushed him hard, but it was his former protégé Toprak Razgatlioglu who created the headlines on his Yamaha. The Turk, who Jonathan had taken under his wing in his time at Kawasaki, won at both the first and last rounds of the season to give a glimpse of what lay ahead.
Toprak would be the man to deny Rea a seventh consecutive title, outscoring superbike’s G.O.A.T. by 13 points to take his first championship. By now the Kawasaki was considered to be getting a bit long in the tooth, especially compared to the latest Ducati V4. Bautista, now back on the Italian bike after some difficult years at Honda, powered to the titles in 2022 and 2023. JR was third, behind Toprak, in both years, with the ‘Titanic Trio’ almost untouchable by their rivals.
Jonathan shocked the superbike world by announcing he was breaking his Kawasaki contract a year early to replace Toprak at Yamaha. With the Turk moving to ride the unfancied BMW and Bautista’s rocketship Ducati hit with a weight penalty, many felt that Jonathan was well placed to challenge for a seventh title. Alas it was not to be.
Two torrid years were hit with injury and a comparative lack of competitiveness, while Toprak dominated aboard the previously uncompetitive BMW. It made the Turk’s performances on the Yamaha seem even more impressive, as Jonathan languished 13th in the final standings – with just a solitary podium in the Donington Park Superpole race to get excited about.
This year proved to be another challenge. After missing the first three rounds as a result of a pre-season injury, it took until the fifth race weekend for him to even score some championship points. The latter half of the season saw some improvements, as he regularly featured in the top eight, but with no contract on the table it was time to call time on WorldSBK’s most glittering career. Somewhat representative of his time on the R1, his career ended on a low with two crashes in his final round at Jerez – the second ruling him out of what was set to be an emotional last race due to a knee injury.
Speaking after his last race weekend, Jonathan said:
“(This is) completely not the way I wanted to end this chapter, both in WorldSBK and with Yamaha. (I’m) really grateful for this opportunity to ride for an amazing bunch of guys, but you can’t write the end of your own story and if anything, this weekend has cemented my decision to walk away from the sport.
I hope I’ll be remembered as someone who gave everything right until the last lap. A huge thanks to all the world superbike community, my fans and all our sponsors for being here on the journey. It’s not the records, the trophies or the race wins. It’s the people and the memories I take with me forever.I’ve had a great ride and I’ll see you on the other side.”
As well as his success racing superbikes, Jonathan’s career saw him win the prestigious Suzuka Eight-Hour endurance race three times, make impressive stand in rides for the Repsol Honda MotoGP team, take runner-up spot in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year, be awarded an MBE and an OBE, as well as winning numerous other awards and honorifics.
Jonathan was a Carole Nash ambassador throughout his championship winning years, representing the brand with total professionalism. Although he’s retiring from full-time racing, JR doesn’t look like he’s ready to completely hang up his leathers. He’s already said that he’ll ride bikes in some capacity or another, with endurance racing and testing roles being mooted and, although he won’t be fighting for a seventh title, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see him lining up on the grid again in 2026.
Congratulations on a stellar career, JR. You dreamed it, believed it and achieved it.
Photos: WorldSBK
