Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) will make his return to MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action at MotorLand Aragon. The six-time Champion has been declared fit for the Tissot Aragon Round following checks on his thumb wound at the circuit. Rea crashed in Race 1 at Magny-Cours and underwent surgery on a tendon as well as having a skin graft at the top of his thumb. Recovery from the surgery, which included hyperbaric oxygen therapy, meant he missed the Italian Round last week but the #65 has been declared fit to continue his 2024 campaign.

“Excuse the pun, but thumbs up!”, began Rea when leaving the medical centre on Thursday following his assessment. “I’m ready, or I hope so! Better to be here than on the sofa at home. I missed you guys last week.”

Speaking in more detail about how he’s feeling in an interview on Thursday afternoon, Rea said: “I’m quite excited to ride. I’m not 100% fit, let’s say. The skin injury isn’t raw, it’s dried out now, but the flexion I have on my thumb is quite limited. Even getting a glove on is a bit of a chore but I’m sure on the bike it’s going to be comfortable enough. The position felt okay when I sat on the bike before. I’m just happy to be back. I haven’t been away from the track action since 2013 when I missed some races due to injury. It was really strange. I was happy to stay away and not be involved in the Cremona weekend but then being away was so strange, I just wanted to be back as soon as possible! I’ve done everything possible with my medical crew back home, all the treatments I could do, hyperbaric therapy… anything I could think of to try and accelerate healing, we’ve done that.”

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