WorldSBK, Jonathan Rea shows engineers the way: how Honda can return to winning ways

Rea made his debut as a Honda Superbike test rider and shared his first impressions of the CBR.

The Superbike World Championship pre-season kicked off in Jerez, where a test was scheduled for Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 January. But Jonathan Rea, Honda’s new tester, had already lapped on the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP two days earlier, on the 20th. A smart move, since the six-time world champion was able to work on a dry track, unlike those who started riding yesterday and were hindered by rain.

The former Kawasaki and Yamaha rider did not arrive in Andalusia in ideal physical condition, but he is highly motivated for this new adventure as an HRC tester: "Physically, I wasn’t at 100%," he told Speedweek, "I still have a lot of pain in the knee that was operated on ten weeks ago. I was particularly unstable in right-hand corners. On top of that, I caught a cold on the plane. But it was still great to start this new challenge. It was a good day to understand where we are as a team."

Rea raced with Honda in Superbike from 2008 to 2014, then had a successful run with Kawasaki (2015–2023) and finally two underwhelming seasons with Yamaha (2024–2025). He has accumulated experience that will help him in developing the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, a bike radically changed compared to the one he rode in the past and which has already made a good impression on him: "The information I’ve gathered helps me assess the bike’s strengths and weaknesses. I was pleasantly surprised by the electronics. When I went full throttle on the straight, I thought about how nice it is to have power. Our main goal has to be to find more mechanical grip on the rear wheel. Honda is working hard on every aspect of the bike, and I’ve rarely had so many technicians around me."

Improving rear grip has also been a mission for the HRC team in recent years. Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona have repeatedly expressed the need to see that aspect improved. As a test rider, Rea wants to give the maximum contribution to the project, hoping to be followed in his indications: "I have a clear vision of how to make a bike fast," he comments, "and it’s up to the engineers to implement it. I’ve also been part of teams that didn’t want to listen and thought they had better ideas than mine."

If the track conditions are dry, the six-time SBK world champion should also be riding today in Jerez. Yesterday, the CBRs of Jake Dixon and Tetsuta Nagashima covered some laps. Improving in the wet is another Honda objective, but it’s above all in the dry that a concrete breakthrough is needed.