Reigning World Superbike Champion Jonathan Rea has signed a new two-year deal with Kawasaki and will remain with the team until the end of 2018.

The Isle of Man resident made a shock switch to the squad mid-way through 2014 after spending his career as a Honda man but immediately gelled with the ZX-10R and took the title at the first time of asking. Although 2016 has not been as smooth, Rea leads the title standings by 35 points.

“I am so happy to extend this partnership with the Kawasaki Racing Team and continue the great relationship I have with all the Kawasaki engineers and fans. It is clear that our objectives and way of working are very well matched so it makes perfect sense to extend this for two more seasons,” said Rea.

“With all the incredible memories we have made so far and are now creating, I am 100% confident that we will enjoy working together and develop the Ninja ZX-10R into the future. I would like to thank Kawasaki and all the KRT staff for their full support and belief in my potential. With this in mind I am now even more focused than ever to win the World SBK Championship in 2016 to make it back to back wins.”

Whether Tom Sykes will remain as Rea’s team-mate is unclear as he was an unhappy man at Imola and spoke of talking to other manufacturers. That could, of course, be sabre-rattling at contract time in order to secure a better deal.