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"It's not the end we all dreamed of. I'm very grateful to have had the career that I've had."
In a career that brought six World Superbike Championship titles, 119 wins and 264 podiums, to end it in the gravel trap is not a fitting end for Jonathan Rea.
The intention had been for the Northern Ireland rider to call him on his glittering career at the end of the final race of the season at Jerez.
However, it was brought to a premature end when a knee injury sustained in an opening-lap crash of the Superpole race earlier on Sunday ruled him out of making one final start.
For Rea, there were "mixed emotions". Being ruled out of a final race is a cruel way to end his career, but it also brings to an end a difficult two-year spell with Yamaha, which he had described as "stressful" and a "struggle" and had been a far cry from the success he had achieved with Kawasaki with six straight titles from 2015 to 2020.
"I was frustrated to go down and to be ruled out of my last race isn't how I wanted to write the end of the story," Rea told BBC Sport NI's Stephen Watson in Spain.
"I also have to be very content. I'm happy to close the chapter.
"It hasn't been the dream I imaged the last few seasons. It's the end of a story I'm happy to get out of and start a new story."
The crash was the second of the weekend for Rea, who had ended Saturday's opening race in the gravel at Jerez.
On Sunday morning, he was battling with Remy Gardner on the opening lap and the pair collided, which sent both riders into the gravel trap and Rea was taken away from his stricken bike on a stretcher.
The 38-year-old, who was back in the paddock and was gingerly walking, said early indications were he had sustained ligament damage to his knee.
He said the moment he found out he would not be able to race one final time was "tough", and it was emotional as he was with his team manager and wife, Tatia, who had so often been by his side along with their sons, Jake and Tyler.
"It's tough in one way because it's not how you imaged you finish," Rea added.
"But every story must come to an end and you don't get to decide how that ends.
"There's a mix of emotions but overall there's relief that it is done. The sport has given me so much but taken away a lot as well, so I'm happy to walk slowly out of it."
The latter two years of Rea's World Superbike career could not contrast more with the unprecedented success he had in his golden era, where he broke record after record to become the championship's most decorated rider.
But Rea said he hoped he would be remembered for the good times, and compared it to MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi, who won six titles in motorcycle racing's premier class before his career faded out in 2021.
"This is a small chapter in a big book that we've written.
"The great Valentino Rossi, I can't remember how his last season went, never mind his last race. I hope I will be remembered like that.
"I went down fighting and I hope that still gives inspiration to people. I'm 100% sure that I will be able to have no regrets and I finish my career content with what I have done."
