Jonathan Rea’s Yamaha boss admits “we are struggling, can’t be satisfied”

Yamaha boss Andrea Dosoli says there are “positives” to take from its “tough” Portimao World Superbike round, but admits the team still needs “to improve to close the gap”.

The Portimao round of the 2024 season represented another difficult showing for the factory Yamaha WSBK team.

Jonathan Rea battled bike problems that left him 15th in Race 1, while 10th was all he could muster in the Superpole race before salvaging sixth in the final full-distance contest of the round.

Team-mate Andrea Locatelli failed to crack the top 10 in any of the three races.

Reflecting on the round, Dosoli said: “Overall, it has been a tough weekend for us as a whole, although there have been some positives including the podium finishes in Supersport and Jonathan Rea’s overall feeling with the R1 improving.

“However, it is clear we have been struggling and for sure we cannot be satisfied with the performance achieved.

“In Superbike, our strongest result was sixth place with Jonathan Rea in Race 2.

“In the first race, he was unlucky as he got a very strong start and had the chance to stay with the top group fighting for the podium.

“Unfortunately, he almost crashed but managed to save it, which lost him a couple of positions and then a couple of laps later an issue developed with the quickshifter which compromised his race.

“In the Superpole race, he was unlucky in the first laps and this left him 11th on the grid for Race 2 – which was a tough race as he was fighting the whole race long, but without a single mistake, so this was a very good effort.

“There is no doubt that our competitors have done a better job in Portimao, so we need to improve to close this gap.

“Despite the gap from the winner, and the fact the track was slower this year due to conditions, Jonathan was the only top rider to improve his 2023 race time – he has taken a step forward and his feeling with the R1 is getting better and better, so there are positives to take away from the tough weekend.”

The event fell short of Rea’s pre-round calls, which were for consistent top five results through to the end of the season.