WorldSBK, Jonathan Rea smiles in Portimão: "I now understand Honda's level." Racing at the end of the month?

Rain spoiled the party in Portimão, but for Rea and Honda the test was still useful: will we see the six-time Superbike world champion racing at the end of the month?

Jonathan Rea was also in Portugal for the two days of SBK testing scheduled to prepare for the next round (March 27–29) and, in general, a 2026 season in which Honda would like to take some steps forward compared to the past. Unfortunately, rain ruined part of day 1 and the entire final day, but the new HRC test rider still completed 32 laps that were useful both to check his physical condition and to get to know the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP better. Ninth overall time, 1.1 seconds behind leader Alex Lowes (Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team).

The six-time Superbike world champion was happy to be back on track at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, even if he would have preferred (like everyone) to do more laps and make full use of the two scheduled test days: "On Monday I had a smile plastered on my face just because I was riding the bike on this circuit I love. It was fantastic to work with the team again and rediscover that feeling, even though we once again had to face bad weather. In fact, the weather has been a challenge for the entire winter test season. So far we’ve only managed to complete about 50–60 laps in total, which is less than a full day of testing under normal conditions, so we still have a lot of work to do.".

Even without putting in enough laps, the time on track wasn’t wasted for Rea: "I was able to understand the level of the CBR quite quickly when I arrived. It’s already good, but there are clearly some areas where we can improve. We’re getting there gradually and giving the engineers in Japan and the team a clearer direction to follow". If the rain hadn’t disrupted the teams’ plans, the Honda tester could have understood the bike better and provided more feedback to the technicians to improve it.

Completing a test without weather-related hiccups would also have helped to better understand whether the right knee injury is something to put behind him, but the Northern Irish rider is nonetheless happy with how he felt on his CBR1000RR-R Fireblade: "Physically I’m in much better shape than at the first test we did in Jerez, where I couldn’t bend my knee enough to ride comfortably. Portimão is a very physical track, so all in all it was a good test and I feel physically ready to keep progressing with the work".

We’re now awaiting official confirmation on Rea’s participation in the next Superbike round right at Portimão, where Jake Dixon will likely be unable to race. Even though the HRC team has not yet announced the absence of the former Moto2 rider for the race weekend in Portugal, his recovery seems quite unlikely. There had already been talk of JR65 appearing as a wild card, but with the Englishman out of the picture he could directly take his place in the team alongside Somkiat Chantra, who lapped at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for the first time in 2026. As we reported, the Thai rider was injured during a training session at the Sepang International Circuit and had never been able to ride his CBR before Monday.