REA RETURNS: The six-time Champion replaces Dixon at Honda HRC for Portimao
After signing as a test rider for Honda, Rea will get his first race in his new role at the Portuguese venue – the same place his WorldSBK career started with the Japanese brand
Jonathan Rea will line up on the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as he replaces the still-recovering Jake Dixon at Honda HRC. The six-time Champion signed as a test rider for Honda after calling time on his full-time racing career and will race for the Japanese brand during the Pirelli Portuguese Round, marking his first race with Honda since 2014.
COMPLETING THE HONDA LINE-UP: Rea alongside Chantra
Rea has tested for Honda as part of his test rider duties across the winter at Jerez and Portimao, including as recently as last week. On that occasion, he was with the race team alongside Somkiat Chantra as the Thai rider jumped on the CBR1000RR-R SP for the first time since November 2025. The pair will compete together at the Portuguese Round as Chantra races for the first time in WorldSBK, although his participation is subject to a pre-round medical check. It means Honda will have a complete contrast in their box, with the most experienced WorldSBK rider of all time, with 470 starts to Rea’s name, paired with Chantra who will make his World Superbike debut at Portimao should he be given the green light to compete.
HONDA PROVIDE DIXON UPDATE: “Progressing positively and without delay”
Rea’s return to the grid comes as race rider Dixon continues to recover from wrist fractures and subsequent surgery that he sustained in the Official Test at Phillip Island. In the announcement, Honda stated about Dixon’s recovery: “Dixon remains focused on his rehabilitation programme, which is progressing positively and without delay.” The #96 also provided an update on his social media, saying: “I’ve flown in to Manchester just to go and get it cleaned. It’s out of a backslab now and into a splint. I’ve still got the wires in but in two weeks I’ll have them out and then the big comeback is on!”
BACK RACING WITH HONDA: 18 years after his WorldSBK debut…
It’s fitting that Rea’s first race with Honda since re-signing for them comes at Portimao. It’s the circuit where he made his WorldSBK debut in 2008, when racing for Hannspree Ten Kate Racing, as he showed a glimpse of what was to come immediately by qualifying third on the grid, and finishing fourth in Race 1. It’s also the venue he took his final win for Honda in 2014, when he won a sodden Race 2 ahead of Davide Giugliano and Chaz Davies, while his last race for Honda was at Qatar; he finished P2 to claim a final podium for Honda in Race 2.
REA’S WORLD SUPERBIKE COMEBACK: The #65 returns to racing action
After two difficult years with Yamaha, Rea announced his retirement from full-time racing at the end of the 2025 season before his move into a test rider role with Honda. He ended his career with 119 wins, 264 podiums and 470 race starts (all the most of anybody in WorldSBK history), as well as 44 poles (behind only Tom Sykes’ 51). His farewell did not go as planned when he sustained a knee injury in the Tissot Superpole Race at Jerez, but the six-time Champion will be back on the grid for Round 2 of the 2026 season.
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