'I want to right the wrongs' - Rea discusses the potential of retirement after a 'dark year'
12/10/2024 09:32 AM
Jonathan Rea has opened up about his thoughts of retirement after a difficult 2024 season.
After his debut season at the Pata Yamaha Prometeon Team, Jonathan Rea had thought about retiring. The 2024 season was the Northern Irish rider's most difficult World Superbike season across his 16-year career in the series.
From 2015 to 2020 Rea dominated the World Superbike class with the Kawasaki Racing Team. Rea and Kawasaki won six titles in a row and won 114 races together across their nine-year partnership.
But Rea's first year with Yamaha was nothing like his previous tenures with Kawasaki and Honda (2009-2014). Throughout the last 15 years in World Superbikes, Rea had won at least one race throughout the season. However, in 2024 he was unable to win a race and only claimed one podium finish in Yamaha blue.
Despite thoughts of retirement across the last few years, Rea will remain on the World Superbike grid in 2025. The six-time Champion will turn 38 before the season begins and will be the second-oldest rider on the grid.
"In the last few years I've been imagining what retirement would look like, but I struggle to see retirement without being competitive on a motorbike," Rea told BBC Sport NI.
"Walking away from the sport healthy was an option but it would have been a horrible way to do it.
"I would probably have hung on to a lot of those negative feelings, so I want to right the wrongs. When the feeling on the bike is good you can't see retirement again. It's the good moments that remind you that there is a lot more to come."
He added: "When the feeling's good you feel like you're going to ride this wave, you're going to build the snowball effect. But yes, this year was a dark year in many ways."
Rea's contract with Yamaha will expire at the end of the 2025 World Superbike season. His future in the series will most likely become a prominent story throughout the upcoming season.
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