WSBK Jon Rea Announces Retirement from Racing Full-Time
Monday, August 25, 2025
WSBK: 
Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) has announced his retirement from full-time racing at the end of the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign. The most successful rider of all time by virtually every metric and statistic going has opted to bring an end to his career at the end of the year, with his WorldSBK career spanning 18 seasons and with the Northern Irishman breaking records and making history throughout his time in World Superbike to go down as a motorcycle racing great.
THE HONDA YEARS: a 2008 cameo before five seasons with Honda
Rea impressed in his one full season in WorldSSP, to the point where he received a call-up to race for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, his World Supersport team, in WorldSBK at Portimao. A front row start and a P4 finish highlighted his potential, and he was soon on the grid full-time from 2009, again with Ten Kate Racing. In five full campaigns on the CBR1000RR, Rea claimed 15 victories and 42 podiums before a new era of success started in 2015 as he made the switch to Kawasaki.
THE DREAM TEAM IN GREEN: unprecedented success with Kawasaki
For 2015, Rea moved to the Kawasaki Racing Team and the ZX-10RR machine, which had won the 2013 Riders’ Championship with Tom Sykes, and runner-up the season after, and finished second in the Manufacturers’ Championship in 2013 and 2014. Success was instant for the #65 as he won his first race in green, at Phillip Island, before taking 14 victories as he claimed his first title – the start of a record-breaking run. Nine wins followed in 2016 as he made it two in a row, before securing a hat-trick of Championships in 2017. His run didn’t stop there as he won in 2018, 2019 and 2020 – seeing off new and existing rivals in the process – to become the first rider with more than four titles in WorldSBK history, surpassing Carl Fogarty. In total, Rea won 104 times for Kawasaki and took a monumental 221 podiums. As success slowed down from 2021, losing out on the title to Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) that season and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in 2022 and 2023, Rea opted for a new challenge as he switched from green to blue.
A BOMBSHELL MOVE: Rea makes Yamaha switch for 2024
In a chain of events that will live long in the memory, Razgatlioglu stunned the motorcycle world by switching from Yamaha to BMW before Rea made his own shock move – replacing ‘El Turco’ at Yamaha for the 2024 season. It’s been two tumultuous years for Rea on the Yamaha R1, with highlights including a pole at Assen in the wet as he mastered the rainy conditions and a podium on home soil at Donington Park; his first rostrum for Yamaha. An injury-hit start to 2025 put him on the back foot and, while there have been signs of promise, Rea hasn’t been able to make everything click to lead Yamaha back to consistent winners. The 38-year-old has decided to call time on his full-time racing career at the end of his Yamaha stint.
REA'S THOUGHTS: “It’s not the records, the trophies or the race wins. It’s the people and the memories I take with me forever”
In a video posted to his social media, Rea stated: “I’ve been thinking about this day for a long time and finally, I’ve decided to step away from full-time racing and retire. This sport has been everything to me. From growing up as a child in Northern Ireland, dreaming of racing bikes, to standing on the top step of the WorldSBK Championship, winning races and Championships. Throughout my career, I’ve only ever had one goal: to win. That mentality defined who I was. I never raced to make up the numbers. I raced to be the best. The time has come to listen to my body, my mind and, most importantly, my instinct. If I can’t race to win, then it’s time to step away. I have the same love for the sport I had on day one right now in this present day. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved during my lengthy career. Six World Championships, more than 100 race wins, and so many other accolades along the way. These are some records that I never imaged could be possible.
YAMAHA
THE HONDA YEARS: a 2008 cameo before five seasons with Honda
Rea impressed in his one full season in WorldSSP, to the point where he received a call-up to race for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, his World Supersport team, in WorldSBK at Portimao. A front row start and a P4 finish highlighted his potential, and he was soon on the grid full-time from 2009, again with Ten Kate Racing. In five full campaigns on the CBR1000RR, Rea claimed 15 victories and 42 podiums before a new era of success started in 2015 as he made the switch to Kawasaki.
THE DREAM TEAM IN GREEN: unprecedented success with Kawasaki
For 2015, Rea moved to the Kawasaki Racing Team and the ZX-10RR machine, which had won the 2013 Riders’ Championship with Tom Sykes, and runner-up the season after, and finished second in the Manufacturers’ Championship in 2013 and 2014. Success was instant for the #65 as he won his first race in green, at Phillip Island, before taking 14 victories as he claimed his first title – the start of a record-breaking run. Nine wins followed in 2016 as he made it two in a row, before securing a hat-trick of Championships in 2017. His run didn’t stop there as he won in 2018, 2019 and 2020 – seeing off new and existing rivals in the process – to become the first rider with more than four titles in WorldSBK history, surpassing Carl Fogarty. In total, Rea won 104 times for Kawasaki and took a monumental 221 podiums. As success slowed down from 2021, losing out on the title to Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) that season and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in 2022 and 2023, Rea opted for a new challenge as he switched from green to blue.
A BOMBSHELL MOVE: Rea makes Yamaha switch for 2024
In a chain of events that will live long in the memory, Razgatlioglu stunned the motorcycle world by switching from Yamaha to BMW before Rea made his own shock move – replacing ‘El Turco’ at Yamaha for the 2024 season. It’s been two tumultuous years for Rea on the Yamaha R1, with highlights including a pole at Assen in the wet as he mastered the rainy conditions and a podium on home soil at Donington Park; his first rostrum for Yamaha. An injury-hit start to 2025 put him on the back foot and, while there have been signs of promise, Rea hasn’t been able to make everything click to lead Yamaha back to consistent winners. The 38-year-old has decided to call time on his full-time racing career at the end of his Yamaha stint.
REA'S THOUGHTS: “It’s not the records, the trophies or the race wins. It’s the people and the memories I take with me forever”
In a video posted to his social media, Rea stated: “I’ve been thinking about this day for a long time and finally, I’ve decided to step away from full-time racing and retire. This sport has been everything to me. From growing up as a child in Northern Ireland, dreaming of racing bikes, to standing on the top step of the WorldSBK Championship, winning races and Championships. Throughout my career, I’ve only ever had one goal: to win. That mentality defined who I was. I never raced to make up the numbers. I raced to be the best. The time has come to listen to my body, my mind and, most importantly, my instinct. If I can’t race to win, then it’s time to step away. I have the same love for the sport I had on day one right now in this present day. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved during my lengthy career. Six World Championships, more than 100 race wins, and so many other accolades along the way. These are some records that I never imaged could be possible.
— ends —
