Jonathan Rea is adopting a ‘day-by-day’ approach after the six-time World Superbike champion was ruled out of this weekend’s first round in Australia with broken bones in his left foot.
The 38-year-old crashed during a test at Phillip Island on Monday ahead of the season-opener down under.
It is a major blow for Rea, who was hoping to start the new season with a solid points haul after making progress with his Yamaha machine during winter testing.
Instead, Rea will be recuperating at home and the Northern Ireland rider has no indication yet of a date for his return to action, with the second round at Portimao in Portugal at the end of March also in doubt.
“It was going well until it wasn’t,” said Rea.
“It isn’t possible to operate immediately because of the swelling and we’re speaking to a few different consultants about surgery and timeframe.
“It’s day by day really, first we will speak to some professionals, but I’m gutted.”
Rea finished 13th last year in his debut campaign as a Yamaha rider after making the switch from Kawasaki after nine seasons.
He only managed a single podium finish at Donington Park and failed to win a race for the first time in his record-breaking World Superbike career.
The Ballyclare man, who last won the title in 2020, was fired up to make amends this year and brought in new crew chief Uri Pallares as a replacement for Andrew Pitt as he changed things around.
His injury has come as a huge setback for the Pata Maxus Yamaha team after a winter of hard work and effort to provide Rea with a package that would enable him to show his full potential.
“Our test and the start of Pata Maxus Yamaha’s season has been overshadowed by Jonathan’s accident and it’s difficult to put any spin on the story right now – especially when the winter tests rolling into the 2025 season have been so positive and Jonathan’s confidence and motivation was at such a high level,” said team principal Paul Denning.
“Being the champion and athlete that he is, we know that he will put everything into his recovery as he does into racing, so let’s view this episode in the story as simply a delay to seeing the real JR performing at his absolute best on the R1.
“We are a two-rider team – and we’re at one of Andrea Locatelli’s favourite circuits. While Loka’s winter test programme was not as positive as Jonathan’s, his confidence is rebuilding step-by-step here in Australia and the speed and feeling is developing nicely.
“Without any fundamental issues, the team has just been fine-tuning the package to give Loka the confidence he needs for these high-speed corners. It’s coming and we’re getting closer to the podium pace after every lap – we are in a good place to start the race weekend on Friday morning.”
Meanwhile, Michael Dunlop claimed another leading award when he was voted as MCN’s Rider of the year for 2024.
Dunlop overtook his uncle Joey’s record of 26 Isle of Man TT wins last year, raising the bar to 29.
The Ballymoney man won the award against a shortlist of rivals including MotoGP World Champion Jorge Martin and World Superbike Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Dunlop was presented with the accolade at the London Motorcycle Show.