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Eight months ago, at Suzuka, Gino Rea risked his life. In a terrible crash during practice for the 8 Hours he fractured two vertebrae in his neck, his collarbone, a rib, suffered lung injuries and a serious head injury. Next week he will be back in the saddle at Le Mans, taking part in a parade lap before the race.
The British rider, in an interview conducted by EWC, does not want to quit however, but to get back to racing, and winning.
Where in the world are you Gino and how are you today?
“I’m in Spain right now with my wife, Isabella, continuing my training and rehab. I’m doing okay and feeling better each day.”
What stage are you at with your recovery?
“At the start we were all very worried because you never know what long-term effect a brain injury can have, so I feel very happy and fortunate to have recovered to where I am today. My training is going really well and my fitness is improving every day. I still need time but it's going the right way.”
Could you describe a typical day?
“My day usually starts with light exercise or yoga in the morning and then there is my main training session of the day around midday. Some days are filled with rehab instead, which is part of the recovery process. We had a nutritionist write his recommended plan for me, basically it was similar to what I was already doing because I’ve always eaten clean in general. Occasionally I have a snack but it’s normally something homemade, so it’s quite good, and my diet consists of fruit and veg and your basic meat.”
To say the last seven months must have been extremely tough for you and your family would be an understatement. How hard has it been?
“Yes, the last seven months have been extremely hard for myself and the people around me. I especially feel sorry for them because they've had to go through such difficult times with me – my wife especially; Isabella has been amazing with me and I wouldn't be as strong as I am today without her. And a big thank you to my family who have always been by my side. I also have to thank my manager, Terry Rymer, for all his support.”
The outpouring of support, good wishes and donations has been immense - what does it mean to you?
“It means everything to me. The support has been unbelievable and I really, really appreciate every single comment from everyone, so thank you to everyone that has shown support. The donations too were incredible (we plan to close the GoFundMe page at the end of this month), and it’s for this reason that I’ve been able to go through the amount of rehab and had such a rapid improvement, so I’m forever thankful to each and every one of you that contributed.”
What message do you have for your fans and members of the bike racing community?
“My most important message is ‘thank you’ to each and every person that has shown me support. It really doesn’t go unnoticed. This goes to each and every fan who has contacted me and to other top professional riders that reached out.”
Your team-mates always reference the role you played in F.CC. TSR Honda France becoming world champion in 2022. What satisfaction does that bring?
“It brings the satisfaction of becoming world champions together. I really appreciate their help and enjoyed being team-mates with them, we had some amazing times together which led to becoming champions.”
What memories do you have of the race week in Japan?
“Unfortunately, I don't remember much of being in Japan. I just have some flashback memories of certain places.”
Is there any sense of anger, despair or frustration at what happened to you?
“Frustration, yes. It was an unfortunate event which had a big impact on me with an injury that takes time to recover from. It’s a frustrating injury that I need to have patience to get over.”
What’s the plan going forward in terms of short-, mid- and long-term goals?
“I want to be back at the same level in general as I was before and for me that means being back at the front and trying to win races again in EWC. EWC is a championship I love and where I think I’ve found my feet. Throughout my career I’m happy being in a championship if I’m competitive and I’ve been competitive in most of them, but in EWC I’ve found a bit of a home and I’ve found a home in Honda and that’s the situation I’d like to be back in.”
How realistic is that prospect of returning to racing at the front in the EWC and how optimistic are you?
“I am optimistic at that plan, it just takes time to get there. But, ultimately, I think that time is coming very soon because my progress has probably been better than a lot of people thought it would be. Even the medical people expected it would take longer. I’ve tried my motocross bike and have taken part in a trackday on a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade and that was a bit of a surprise to myself and other people around me. It’s difficult to give an exact time but I look forward to more training days to get more feeling for it.”
Your health and fitness are always something you’ve taken seriously – how much has that contributed to your recovery?
“My whole life in racing I’ve tried to be as fit as I can and I personally believe it’s always been beneficial for me. And now I’m in the Endurance World Championship that’s very key. In general, it’s helped me, but in situations like this my health and fitness being at such a high level is what’s helped me to recover. The level I was at before was a high level in health and fitness. Your body obviously drops when you have an accident, but you’ve got that base inside you.”
Have you given much thought to life outside racing?
“I already have my own race team and this year we’re going to Supersport in the British Superbike Championship. The team is named R4R (Ready 4 Racing) Vision Racing, and that’s based on the coaching that I’d always done before the team started. The team has been going for three or four years. It’s based in the UK. My partner in the team is Vision CPS. They used to be a personal sponsor. I met the owner, Elliott Mumford, when I was doing a guest talk at the same event and I found out he lives in North Cheam near my family home in Epsom, which is in Surrey outside southwest London. His son Alfie has a rare syndrome – but he’s a really cute and strong kid – and they do lots of fundraising for him and children with special needs through the One Step At a Time Charity.”
Do you have plans to watch the first race of the EWC season at Le Mans?
“I am going to Le Mans to do a Parade Lap and to support the TSR Honda team. I’m looking forward to meeting my team-mates again and seeing the fans. Honda France are arranging a bike for me to ride in the Parade Lap. I don’t know the spec of the bike, it will be in TSR Honda colours but I don’t have all the details at the moment. It’s going to very exciting but very emotional because I want to be at Le Mans racing, that’s a given. I’ve seen people doing these Parade Laps before after they’ve come back from similar things. I’ve always looked up to them doing it and now it’s me doing it. I feel very appreciative that they’ve allowed me to do it. It’s going to be emotional for me because I can’t believe I’m going to be there and they’ve given me a Parade Lap. But the amount of people that know I’ve had this accident is quite mind-blowing really, I’ve had messages from famous motorcycle racers. The biggest thing why I’m so thankful to everyone who has shown me support is because you realise how much of a small world it actually is and until something like this happens it’s hard to appreciate that. Although the world is so small, the internet is so big and news spreads fast, and I just want to thank everyone and doing this lap will show people what their support has helped me to achieve. And, of course, I will stay for the race and I’ll be supporting the TSR Honda team. I’m looking forward to meeting my team-mates again and seeing the fans.”
