Jonathan Rea on the 2026 Superbike World Championship: “It’s not like it used to be”

On 25 August 2025, Jonathan Rea announced his retirement as a factory rider in the World Superbike Championship at the end of the season. However, the Northern Irishman remained active as a test rider for Honda Racing Corporation. We also saw the record-breaking world champion standing in for the injured Jake Dixon (Honda) at the rounds in Portimão and Assen, as well as making a guest appearance at Donington Park.

At the other race weekends, Rea was a silent observer of the championship that he himself had dominated for many years. With six world titles and 119 wins, the 39-year-old is the most successful Superbike rider, yet today he sees a changed world.

“The battles just aren’t what they used to be between Toprak and Álvaro, Toprak and Bulega, myself against Toprak and Redding, or Chaz against me or against Aprilia,” Crash-net quotes the Northern Irishman as saying. “Ducati have done a really good job. But is it the championship’s job to ensure greater balance and create a category that’s fair for all production-based bikes? Or is it the responsibility of the other manufacturers to follow suit?”

Everyone needs hope to keep going.

Jonathan Rea

From his many years’ experience with Kawasaki and subsequently with Yamaha, Rea understands the challenges facing manufacturers. On the one hand, the regulations set strict limits on how powerful a motorbike can be made; on the other, only a few manufacturers can successfully bring outrageously expensive production motorbikes like the Ducati V4R to market.

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“The sports motorbike market is fiercely competitive, and as a mass-production manufacturer, you can’t build a ‘super-superbike’ overnight,” says the family man. “It’s going to be a huge challenge to bring back the excitement of the past, or even just to give Bimota, Honda, Yamaha or BMW a glimmer of hope. They all need hope to want to carry on. More excitement is definitely needed, but I don’t want to detract from the leaders’ achievements in any way, because they’re incredible: they get faster every year. That’s fantastic, but the spectacle is missing something.”