Honda eager to see Jonathan Rea in MotoGP in 2014

Honda is trying to reward Jonathan Rea’s unwavering loyalty to the Japanese factory by helping the British rider secure a MotoGP switch in 2014.

The current Ten Kate Honda rider attended the recent German round at Sachsenring to explore potential options for next season.

And HRC confirmed during the last MotoGP round in Laguna Seca that it is endorsing the 26-year-old when negotiating with teams to purchase its production Honda RC213V racer.

Rea, who replaced injured Aussie Casey Stoner in Misano and Aragon on the factory Repsol Honda last season, is keen on a MotoGP move, even though initially he wouldn’t be riding a prototype machine.

He has been linked with a production RC213V ride with Paul Bird’s British-based squad and PBM boss Phil Borley held further talks with HRC in California recently about the possibility of purchasing the new bike, which Casey Stoner will help develop in Japan.

HRC boss Livio Suppo told MCN: “Jonathan has proven to be very loyal with Honda and personally I would like to see him in MotoGP because last year he did a good job and I think he deserves a chance. When we speak to teams we need to understand which kind of riders they would like to put on the bike and Jonathan is always on the list.”

Rea took his first WSB win of the season at Silverstone on Sunday.

For full coverage from Silverstone see this week’s issue of MCN.