Rea and Haslam back for 2014

The Pata Honda world superbike team has retained Northern Ireland’s Jonathan Rea and Englishman Leon Haslam for the 2014 championship.

Rea began his world championship career with the Ten Kate-run Honda team in the 2008 world supersport title before moving up to world superbikes in 2009, since when he has secured 33 podiums from 116 races, including 11 race victories.

Rea is currently recuperating from a fractured left femur that he sustained in a crash at Nürburgring in Germany last month, but the 26-year-old from is making a good recovery and is optimistic about the possibility of riding his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade again before the end of the year.

“It's been a big decision that I've thought long and hard about because there were some other options to consider,” said Rea.

“However, at the end of the day it was an easy choice because of the faith and respect that I have for the team that I've been with for six years and the company that I have been with my entire career.

“I know how hard the guys work to make the Honda competitive and I know that we have the potential to fight again for more podiums and race wins and the championship next season. Those podiums and wins are what motivate all of us and that's why I know that everyone will pull out the stops over the winter again to make them happen.

“We will go into the testing program in a much better position than we were in 12 months ago because we've worked so hard to get the new electronics package to work this season. I am as motivated as ever and really looking forward to riding my bike again.”

Rea became a father for the first time on September 27 when his Aussie wife Tatia gave birth to a boy, Jake.

Haslam joined the team for the 2013 season, but he has been restricted by a broken leg sustained at Assen in the Netherlands in April.

Haslam, 30, has contest 155 world superbike races, a third of which have been on Honda’s CBR machine. The British rider has achieved a total of three race wins and 28 podium finishes since his first SBK race in 2003, and he finished as runner-up in the series in 2010.

Meanwhile, Pata Honda will also continue with the same world supersport riders in 2014 -- 2013 Suzuka 8-Hour winner Michael van der Mark and Italian Lorenzo Zanetti.