Castrol Honda's Jonathan Rea will continue to race for the team in World Superbikes next season after signing an extension to his contract late last night which sees the former motocrosser continue his relationship with the Dutch-based squad until the end of 2012.

The move ends speculation as to whether the young Irishman had found a seat in MotoGP for next year but with HRC only having two works bikes in the series, Rea has taken the option to remain where he is.

"We started talking quite early this season and it was clear to me that everyone was aware that we were struggling with the bike in some areas. After four years with this team, and even more with Honda, it was refreshing and inspiring to see how intent everyone was on addressing the problems," said Rea.

"These are difficult economic times everywhere, but Honda and the team have increased their commitment and ticked all the boxes for me, so I’m really, really happy. There’s no championship left to fight for this season, but that won’t stop us trying as hard as ever for race wins. And the fact that we’re not battling for a title means that we can also continue our development work for next year.

"I’d like to thank Honda for the continued support and the team for everything they do for me. Together, we all have unfinished business in the World Superbike championship."

Rea finished just outside the top ten in today's Superpole and will start tomorrow's double header from tenth after track temperature problems hampered his progress.

"It would have been nice to be on the second row tomorrow, but it’s not the case and we just missed out on Superpole three by a small margin. We had a little bit of trouble getting the tyre to work well in the higher temperature today so we’ve got a bit of work to do tonight. Tomorrow the conditions are said to be a lot different, cooler with maybe even some rain, but it doesn’t satisfy us that we haven’t got over the temperature issues today," he added.