Jonathan Rea (Yamaha): “That motivates me too” / World Superbike Championship

Jonathan Rea (Yamaha) set the second fastest time on the first day of the Jerez test – he was 0.568 seconds behind Kawasaki rider Garrett Gerloff of Northern Ireland was busy and completed 77 laps in good conditions. In the season finale in October at the Circuito de Jerez, Rea finished 11th and 9th in the two main races and 11th in the Superpole race.

Did the six-time world champion see improvements with his R1 on the first day of testing compared to the race and the first winter test in southern Spain? “It’s hard to compare because the track conditions in November are always different than in the race,” admitted Rea. “My rhythm was good, better than in the race. What was important was the feeling – this was fine at first, the changes we made afterwards were positive and I was faster in the morning. Then we moved to the pilot program and tried different things, like different geometries. Yamaha also has a list of things they want to test tomorrow.”

It was also the first day with his new chief of staff Oriol Pallares, who was previously his long-term chief engineer and replaced Andrew Pitt. “I tried to speed up and work with my new crew chief Oriol – it was a smooth and good day,” emphasized the 37-year-old. “I had a good feeling on the bike. Many bikes I had had the same feeling, but one It came out. We got some positives with it, but also some negatives. We have to find a compromise for tomorrow. In the end, this test is not to be too fast, but to regain a good feeling and a vibe with the team let’s go into winter break feeling good.”

Will Rea still wear the qualifying tire on the second day of testing to chase times? “The feeling should be right for this, because the qualifying tire often hides a lot of problems,” explained Rea. “We have to be honest and first improve my feeling with the bike. But it’s true that qualifying was my biggest weak point this year. In some races I was one of the fastest in the last laps, but if you start from 14 or 15 on the grid it’s impossible . I need to improve my time hunting, but to train for that you have to feel very good on the bike. We still need to improve some things we need to try. You have to give the crew, the electric guys time to understand and try to give them good feedback. To be honest, I’m happy with how Yamaha have responded in a difficult year. They’re very motivated to develop the bike – that motivates me too.”