SBK, Honda turns to Jonathan Rea: key Portimão test to transform the CBR

Rea will be back riding the CBR1000RR-R in Portugal: his presence will be important for the HRC team, which also needs him to grow.

With Somkiat Chantra and Jake Dixon sidelined due to injury, Honda’s first 2026 Superbike round was fairly anonymous. In the upcoming Portimão event (March 27–29) the Thai rider will return, while the Briton’s presence appears unlikely. In any case, barring surprises, Jonathan Rea will also be racing. The six-time world champion is expected to compete as a wild card, as leaked in recent months.

What is certain today is that he will take part in next week’s test: on Monday the 9th and Tuesday the 10th of March, the Northern Irishman will also be on track with the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. Hired as a tester for 2026, he wants to bring all his experience to help the bike’s development and the Honda HRC team’s growth in the Superbike World Championship. He was already present at the pre-season tests in Jerez and Portimão, but the weather conditions were unfavorable and the mileage covered was much less than expected.

Rea managed to ride in the dry at Jerez, on the day before the official test began with all riders on track. He was fortunate, also because he was able to give his first concrete impressions of the bike, which is very different from the one he rode when he was a Honda Superbike rider. He wasn’t at 100% physically, still dealing with the aftereffects of the injury suffered at the final 2025 round held at Jerez itself, but his feedback was nonetheless valuable for the HRC technicians.

He will arrive in Portimão in better shape and will be able to provide stronger feedback. He is eager to get back on the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP and even wrote it in his latest Instagram post: "Back on track next week! Can’t wait to keep working".

Helping Honda return to prominence in World Superbike is a huge motivator for Rea, who also immediately understood which areas of the bike need improvement: "The appeal of this project," he told Speedweek, "lies in the fact that we are the underdogs. Everyone involved is incredibly motivated to make the bike faster. So far, the results haven’t come, and everyone agrees that something has to change. We need mechanical grip and rear-wheel traction. The bike is very stable under braking; what we need to work on is its behavior on corner exit."

We’ll see whether his experience will enable the HRC team to make the hoped-for progress; the investment is there, and the goal is to achieve a turning point during the 2026 season. Certainly, the injuries to Chantra and Dixon have been an issue, as has the limited time on a dry track in the tests so far, but the hope is that things will progressively improve starting from Portimão. Completing two effective days of work in Portugal could be crucial to laying the groundwork for Honda’s resurgence.