Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) will be back in MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action on Friday at the Cremona Circuit after being given the green light to take part in Free Practice 1, with the #65 to be reassessed following the 45-minute session on Friday morning. Rea has missed the entire season through a foot injury sustained in testing but will get his first taste of WorldSBK in 2025 at the Acerbis Italian Round.

In the Official Test at Phillip Island, Rea had a highside at Turn 2 which resulted in multiple fractures to his left foot. Initially ruled out of Australia, the Ulsterman flew back to Belfast and underwent surgery and, with the injuries more complex than they first appeared, was subsequently ruled out of both Portimao and Assen. However, with a couple of weeks between Assen and Cremona, Rea flew to Italy with the intention of racing after consulting with his medical team, but this was always subject to the pre-round medical check required for him. After that check, the Yamaha rider is clear to take part in Friday’s FP1 and will be reassessed after the 45-minute session.

Discussing how he’s feeling ahead of Cremona, Rea said: "I'm doing well, it's good to finally be back. 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. There are so many people to thank to be able to be here and finally able to spend some lap tome through Free Practice 1. It was nice to watch from afar as well as ‘Loka’ got his first WorldSBK win, Yamaha have been competitive as well in these first races so that gives us some confidence and motivation that all of our hard work in the winter is paying off, and 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."

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