Augusto Fernandez will replace Jonathan Rea in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship when the series visits Portugal in March. The Spanish star will take the place of Rea as the Ulsterman recovers from injuries sustained during the Official Test in Australia, with the #65 subsequently ruled out of action for both the Australian and Portuguese Rounds. Fernandez will make his WorldSBK debut at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, although will be on track in a test at March at the same venue.

Rea crashed towards the end of Day 1 action at the Official Test leading up to the season-opening round and was diagnosed with multiple fractures to his left foot when his Yamaha R1 bike landed on his foot. He highsided at Turn 2 which caused the injuries before returning home where he underwent surgery. Despite this being a success, the #65 will be forced to miss both testing at the rollercoaster Portimao venue on March 14^th-15^th and the Pirelli Portuguese Round which takes place two weeks later.

Spanish star Fernandez will replace the Ulsterman to make his WorldSBK debut, although he’s raced within the paddock before. He started out in the European Junior Cup and finished second in 2013 before winning the 2014 title. He raced in STK600 in 2015, claiming one win on his way to fourth in the standings. In 2017, Moto2™ was his calling as he made his debut and he raced there until the 2022 season, claiming seven wins and 20 podiums in his six seasons which concluded with the title that year.

A move to MotoGP™ beckoned for 2023 with Red Bull GasGas Tech3 squad where he remained for two seasons. His best result was fourth at Le Mans in just his fifth race as he started his rookie season superbly, though his second campaign was trickier. He scored just one top-ten finish for the season, in the penultimate Grand Prix of the season, though he finished seventh in the Sprint at Jerez earlier on in the campaign. Following the end of the 2024 season, he was signed by Yamaha as a MotoGP™ rider and will now make his WorldSBK debut.

Discussing the news that he’d replace Rea, 27-year-old Fernandez said: “First of all I would like to send my best wishes for a speedy recovery to Jonathan Rea and to thank Yamaha for this opportunity. This will be my first experience of racing with the R1 but also of racing in WorldSBK. I can’t wait to get to the Portimão test to spend some time on the bike and to see how it feels.”

Road Racing Sporting Manager at Yamaha Motor Europe, Niccolo Canepa, added: “Jonathan has been sorely missed here in Phillip Island, but we are happy that the surgery on his injuries was successful and that he has now started the recovery process. We hope to see him fully fit and back on the bike as soon as possible. In the meantime, we spoke with Augusto and Yamaha Motor Racing about the possibility he could stand in for Jonathan in Portimao and he was keen to do so. He is familiar with the circuit, and with the test scheduled ahead of the race we can give him track time with the R1 WorldSBK ahead of the event. We must thank Yamaha Motor Racing and the MotoGP™ team for their support, and we are looking forward to welcoming Augusto to the team and to the WorldSBK paddock.”

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