I’m sure it’s not a popular subject in the Rea world right now, but he could have been Ducati’s rider in WSBK had he accepted their offer.

Ducati made a strong push to sign Rea when his Kawasaki contract was up, and talks continued later when he considered another move. He could have been on the factory Ducati.

Rea’s recent decisions at contract time make it easy to second-guess him. He re-signed with Kawasaki when Ducati was on the table. Later, he broke his Kawasaki contract after deciding the bike wasn’t going to be competitive, only to switch to Yamaha—and watch that green Kawasaki, or even the Bimota, finish ahead of him.

Four rounds remain in the 2025 WSBK championship before Rea retires, so he could still win a race on the Y-bike. But so far, the Yamaha stint has been a boondoggle: zero wins on the R1 and it's been fraught with injuries, and a lack of speed. He has never looked like “Johnny Rea” on the Yamaha.




Adding to the frustration was a terrifying crash earlier in the 2025 season. He was launched off the R1 and came within inches of the cartwheeling R1 smashing itself into the ground beside him. He was very lucky not to be injured—or worse. The accident carried an eerie resemblance to Yamaha rider Yasutomo Nagai’s crash at Assen in September 1995.

Nagai later died from injuries sustained in that incident.

Rea isn’t that plucky MX-kid turned roadracer anymore. He has a young family, and for him trying to make that boat-anchor R1 competitive clearly comes with huge risks. Huge.

He says he’ll retire from full-time racing at the end of 2025. But what does that really mean? Will he take up a role as a test rider? Would he accept a replacement rider gig with BMW, Honda, Ducati, or Bimota if one of their WSBK regulars was sidelined with injuries?

Maybe.