Jonathan Rea backs the Honda SBK project, Dixon: "They're spending a lot of money"

Rea and Dixon fairly satisfied with the Superbike test at Jerez, but in the Honda camp they also hope to find better conditions to work on the CBR.

At the end of the two days of testing in Andalusia, it was Jonathan Rea who emerged as the best HRC rider in the overall standings: 10th fastest, 1.111s off leader Nicolò Bulega. Jake Dixon finished 13th, 8 thousandths behind the six-time WorldSBK champion, while Tetsuta Nagashima placed 18th, 1.883s from the top. As we’ve said several times, these were two days marked by particular conditions, and it was positive that JR65 was able to ride as early as Tuesday, when the track was dry.

Even though the goal was to do more laps on Wednesday (wet asphalt all day) and Thursday (semi-dry for only 2–3 hours), some useful data was collected ahead of upcoming commitments. On January 28–29 there will be a Superbike test at Portimão, where everyone hopes to be able to run in dry conditions, even if today’s weather forecast is a bit worrying.

Interviewed by the official WorldSBK channels, Rea reiterated that he did not start his Honda tester adventure in the best physical condition, given that the right knee injury suffered in the last round of 2025 has not yet fully healed: "I’d like to say my knee is much better, but I felt quite uncomfortable on the bike in the first laps. I need time to be 100% fit. If I told my doctor I was here, he’d be very angry. Anyway, it was great to have the first sensations with the CBR, we did some laps and gathered valuable information. The project is really nice and the test team works very closely with the factory team. There’s a big staff and big ambitions, but also a lot of work to do."

The Northern Irish rider is taking a very wise approach as he tries to adapt to the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP: "Fortunately, the test riders were able to ride on Tuesday. I did 25 laps, then Thursday I didn’t do many because we were waiting for the track to dry. We are trying to understand the bike step by step, that’s the first thing to do before trying big components, which we have on the list for the coming months anyway. Now I need to understand the bike and its potential, trying to make the most of it."

For Rea, Jerez marked his first kilometers as an HRC tester, so there’s still a lot to do, but he remains optimistic about the future: "With 50 laps on the bike we’re not yet close to where we should be, but I’m positive. The bike gives me good feelings, sensations I had been missing. There are also many aspects we need to improve, but with my experience and that of the technicians both in the team and at HRC we can join forces and try to take a step forward."

Dixon comes from years in Moto2 and his adaptation to the SBK world takes time; unfortunately, the rain at Jerez ruined his plans, though it wasn’t all for nothing: "We only had a couple of hours in mixed conditions before the rain came back, which was frustrating, especially for a Superbike rookie, for whom track time is extremely important. We clearly need more laps, but despite the conditions I already feel more comfortable than in November. The work done on geometry and setup was a good step forward. There are still some areas to improve, including riding position, electronics, and the overall feeling with the bike, but all of this is part of the process. In the next test the goal is simply to keep working on everything, step by step."

The English rider considers it a great fortune to have a tester like Rea available at Honda and wants to fully harness his experience to improve: "Johnny’s comments are similar to mine — he told Speedweek — we’re working in the same direction. We have the best rider in the SBK paddock as a test rider, I couldn’t ask for more. I can only learn. I’m happy to already be close to him at this early stage. I was in good teams in Moto2, but this is a different championship. There’s a lot more money available: Honda is spending a lot because it wants to get back to the top". MotoGP is the priority, but HRC also wants to perform well in Superbike.