Jonathan Rea faces a race against time to be fit enough to compete in the next round of the World Superbike Championship after missing both races in France on Sunday because of injury.
The Northern Ireland rider underwent an operation on Saturday evening after sustaining a deep wound to his right thumb when he crashed out of the first race on the opening lap at Magny-Cours.
Rea will now hope the injury heals sufficiently to allow him to race at Cremona in Italy from September 20-22, which is a new circuit on the 2024 World Superbike calendar.
The Pata Prometeon Yamaha rider has had a nightmare 2024 season by his lofty standards after switching manufacturers from Kawasaki.
Rea is 10th in the Championship with only four rounds remaining and has one solitary podium result under his belt on the Yamaha in 2024, which he achieved with third in the Superpole race at Donington Park in the summer.
“Unfortunately, my injury needed specialist attention, and I had to have an emergency surgery to repair some damage in my right thumb,” Rea said.
I will understand my recovery day by day, but I would just like to thank the track medics and especially Dr Antoine Martins for fixing me up. Thank you to all my team, my fans and all my sponsors that continue to support me in this tough period.”
Pata Prometeon Yamaha team boss Paul Denning admitted that it could be a ‘tough challenge’ for Rea to be able to return at Cremona in under a fortnight’s time.
“Magny-Cours has been the toughest of tough weekends,” Denning said.
“We obviously hope that Jonathan is going to be able to ride in Cremona – it could be a really tough challenge, but whatever the case, we are focused on regrouping and doing our best to perform a lot better at Yamaha’s Italian home race.”
Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu is also targeting a comeback at Cremona after he sustained a collapsed lung in a high-speed crash in free practice on Friday.
Razgatlioglu had won a record 13 races in succession going into the Eighth Round before his unbeaten streak ended abruptly.
The 27-year-old was fortunate to escape without any broken bones and is hopeful he won’t have to miss another round.
“I hope to be back in two weeks’ time in Cremona,” he said. “We’ll have checks again, but I think it should be okay. We will see.
“I want to thank all the medical staff at the track and in Moulins Hospital. And I want to thank everybody for the many messages and best wishes.”
With Razgatlioglu out, Italy’s Nicolo Bulega – second in the Championship – took full advantage of the opportunity to cut the Turkish rider’s points gap on Sunday.
The Ducati rider was empty-handed on Saturday after crashing out simultaneously with Rea at the last chicane but made amends on Sunday.
Bulega won the Superpole race from England’s Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and wrapped up a double with victory in the final race to pocket another 25 points.
The World Supersport champion has impressed in his first season in the Superbike class and is 50 points behind Razgatlioglu.
“It’s incredible,” said Bulega. “I needed a day like this after Saturday because that was a very bad day for us.
“I was fast all weekend from the beginning, but it was very difficult to put it all together, especially with the strange weather conditions.
“I felt that I had the speed, but it was difficult to put it all together. Today, finally, I put it all together and won the Superpole race and Race Two.
“It’s incredible. Thanks to all my team and all the doctors because they helped me have less pain after Race One’s huge crash.”
Danilo Petrucci finished second behind Bulega in the second race on Sunday on the Barni Spark Ducati, with Garett Gerloff completing the rostrum on the Bonovo BMW.
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