"Clear areas we need to improve" for Jonathan Rea, Yamaha at French WorldSBK

A seventh place at the end of Friday at Magny-Cours is hardly going to have six-time WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea jumping for joy, but the Northern Irishman is satisfied with his work on day one in France.

It wasn’t a straightforward start to the day for Rea, but he was able to progress throughout the morning and into the afternoon.

“FP1 we had a few issues that just took some time to fix,” Rea told WorldSBK.com. “ I was in and out of the garage a few times, but I had a pretty decent FP1. We were able to build a rhythm, build the speed, understand a couple of different tyre options.

“I’m satisfied with my pace, satisfied with my feeling on the Yamaha R1, but still some clear areas we need to improve.

“We’ll get our heads together later on to try to make that step tomorrow, try to be competitive in Superpole, give ourselves a good chance to qualify on at least the front few rows.

“My race pace is okay, I need to find a little bit more time, to be honest, a little bit more potential, but the rhythm’s good, and the bike’s consuming the tyre in the right way.”

Rea is sure of the key area he needs to improve in.

“Just entering the fast corners,” he said, “the two fast chicanes, just losing a little bit there to really get to the apex and keep turning.

“I feel like I can get into the apex, but I feel like I’m getting pushed quite a lot from electronics and chassis combination.

“So, a few areas to look at, but the guys know, we can see the issues, some of the other Yamaha riders are stronger in some areas as well, so we’ll put all of that together and try to make a good step.”

The tyres are one of the novelties of this weekend, as Pirelli has brought a number of development tyres to Magny-Cours, including a new version of the SCX rear tyre.

“We’ve tried all three options,” Rea said. “To be honest, it’s hard to compare from this morning to this afternoon because the temperature crept up a little bit.

“Also, you can always do with more time, you can always do a race simulation on each to get the best [understanding], but we’re going to have to take a decision.

“I feel more comfortable with two of the options, so we’ll make a decision I’m sure — probably on the grid tomorrow, because you’re always second-guessing, always thinking what you could do better. But we have FP3 and the Superpole session to finally decide.”

In the end, Rea feels his pace is good enough to end up more or less where he did on the timesheets on Friday.

“I feel my pace is where it is, like sixth, seventh, eighth position,” he said. “We have a little bit to do to fight for the last spot on the podium.

“If everything goes well and the stars align you can be in the top five, but we’re going to make a step tonight, so hopefully we can be there anyway.”