Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) is aiming to get his 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign up and running at this weekend’s Acerbis Italian Round. The #65 was injured in a testing crash in Australia and suffered multiple fractures, requiring surgery, but has been working hard to be back as soon as possible. Subject to a medical inspection on Thursday at the Cremona Circuit, Rea will begin his campaign this weekend.

The injuries occurred during Free Practice 1 of the Official Test at Phillip Island when he highsided off his Yamaha R1 machine at Turn 2. He was taken to the medical centre for a check-up and was diagnosed with multiple foot fractures in his left foot, ruling him out of Australia. After flying back home, he underwent surgery on the injury to stabilise the fractures, which subsequently ruled him out of action at both Portimao and Assen.

Since the surgery, Rea has been working to get back on track as soon as possible and, in early March, provided an update stating that he was treating his recovery with “as much effort and detail” as a race weekend. While Assen came a bit too soon for the six-time Champion, the extra couple of weeks between the Dutch and Italian Rounds have allowed a bit more recovery and, after consultation with his medical team, will travel to Cremona with the aim of competing – although he will need to be declared fit at the track on Thursday.

Discussing his comeback, Rea said: “I’m super excited to be come back in Cremona after the injury sustained in Phillip Island! It feels like a really long couple of months, but in the last 3-4 weeks I’ve maximised regaining strength and function of my left foot. The injury was a lot more serious than first expected and I just want to thank everybody that was behind me to get back on track, especially the fans and all the messages of encouragement. I feel confident and ready – Cremona is a track that I haven’t raced at before, but I was able to spin a few laps in testing last season. I’m just so happy to be back with my team and riding my Yamaha R1! Since I’ve been away the team has made some great improvements and achieved fantastic results with Locatelli including his first win in Assen, so I’m really motivated to start – to understand what my level is and work from there. Can’t wait to see everybody, looking forward to riding again with a smile on my face and trying to have a good weekend in Cremona!”

Pata Maxus Yamaha Team Principal, Paul Denning, added: “We arrive in Cremona with the positivity generated by Loka’s performances in Portimao and Assen – of course, topped off by that very important and emotional first win – and the improvements made to the R1 WorldSBK package. However, equally motivating is the fact that Jonathan will be back with us after putting so much commitment into his recovery from a really nasty injury. He’s demonstrated how badly he still wants to race and to compete to win, so this is a good sign for the rest of the season. Cremona isn’t the easiest track to come back at, and we need to treat this as a first step back on the road to competitiveness for JR, but we are looking forward to giving both him and Loka everything they need to maximise their potential.”

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