Rea confirms Assen absence as recovery continues, O’Halloran steps in
After speaking with his consultants, the six-time Champion has confirmed he’ll miss the Dutch Round at Assen next week
Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) will not compete in the next MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship round at the TT Circuit Assen as he continues to recover from the multiple foot fractures he sustained in Australia. The #65 will again be replaced by Jason O’Halloran, who stepped in for Rea at Portimao although had a baptism of fire at the rollercoaster venue after a high-speed Race 2 crash.
Rea was at Portimao and spoke to the media about his return, stating that he hadn’t completely ruled out an Assen return but he would make a decision when he had spoken with his medical team back home. Those conversations have now happened, and Rea confirmed in his vlog from Portimao, where he was on-site to support his team and catch up with his crew, that he would miss the Pirelli Dutch Round across the 11th-13th April.
Australian rider O’Halloran will again step into the Ulsterman’s side of the box. The #20 debuted for the Pata Maxus Yamaha outfit at Portimao, finishing P17 in Race 1 and P20 in the Tissot Superpole Race as he got up to speed on the WorldSBK-spec Yamaha R1, having ridden it in British Superbike-spec and EWC-spec previously. In Race 2, the Aussie had a fast crash at Turn 1 which brought out the red flags although he was okay after the fall. Assen is a circuit he knows from his time in BSB having raced there between 2016 and 2019, securing a podium in Race 2 in 2016 and Race 1 in 2019, on Yamaha machinery in the latter.
Speaking at the end of his vlog, the #65 stated: “It was nice to watch from the track, I enjoyed that part, but you don’t really have a job to do; you’re a bit of a spare part. It was nice to catch up with the crew, see Jason a little bit and see how he’s getting on. ‘Loka’ had a good weekend as well. I need to be out there. I don’t enjoy bikes that much; I enjoy racing them and being competitive. I think you’ll have gathered by now that I won’t be at Assen which is a real shame. Step by step, keep working hard at home and come back stronger.”
A brief statement from Yamaha said: “Following consultation with his medical team earlier this week, we can now confirm that Jonathan Rea will not compete in Round 3 at the TT Circuit Assen. He will again be replaced in the Pata Maxus Yamaha Team by Jason O’Halloran.”
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