By Richard Petrie BBC Sport

Jonathan Rea is favourite to be named as Irish Racer Magazine Irish Motorcyclist of the Year at the annual awards night on Friday 19 January.

Jonathan Rea is favourite to land the main award

The Larne rider enjoyed a successful season, finishing fourth in the British Superbike Championship on his Red Bull Honda, but is currently recovering from a serious knee injury.

Rea looked to have finished off his season in style, taking a hat-trick at the Sunflower races at Bishopscourt on 14 October but 24 hours later he was recovering in hospital after a warm-up crash at the Mallory Park Race of the Year.

Surgery soon followed but the rising star of the British short circuit scene is well on the road to recovery and looking forward to getting back on two wheels.

"Unfortunately crashing is part and parcel of the sport and sometimes you are going to get hurt," reflected Rea philosophically.

"The MCL ligament was completely torn off the top femur so it had to be screwed back on while the cruciate ligament had been completely ground away from all the years of motocrossing.

"It had to be reconstructed using a tendon from my hamstring," he explained.

"At first it was quite stiff and I couldn't straighten my knee but it's starting to come round now and I'm just about back to full movement.

"They also opened me up again at the hip and pulled out my femoral pin."

The teenager's operation was followed by a period of rest at home and then intensive physiotherapy at Jordanstown.

"I had a chance to lie back and watch plenty of racing DVDs while recovering from the op, which was nice, but it's all action again now as I have been increasing my training gradually.

I hope to be back in the saddle on 26 February and my first test on the new Honda will be in Spain Jonathan Rea

"I'm doing plenty of running, jogging and gym work and am out on my mountain bike every week.

"I'm still a bit cautious with the knee and am not putting too much pressure on it but the muscles seem to be healing ok and the medical people are happy.

The Ballyclare lad is confident of making a full recovery and is grateful that the injury came at the end of the season.

"I missed out on a chance to test a Honda MotoGP bike at Valencia, an HRC test in Japan and another test session in December, as my consultant said it was too early to be riding a bike, but I wasn't too bothered.

"I hope to be back in the saddle on 26 February and my first test on the new Honda will be in Spain.

"I can't wait to get on the bike as I have heard great things about it from my new team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari who has already been doing some testing in Japan. He says it's a rocketship which is just what I wanted to hear.

"I've had plenty of time out to have some fun too, including a paintballing session with my girlfriend and my brother which was good fun."

The former Red Bull Rookie of the Year is also pleased that he will be earning a wage from his new Honda contract meaning he no longer has to get up early to work at his father's business.

"It's nice to start making a living out of racing and I'm really up for next season although I know it'll be tough with so many top guys on good bikes out on the grid.

"But I'm confident in my own ability and come the start of the championship in April I will be firing on all cylinders."