Jonathan Rea: Yamaha adaptation has taken“a lot longer than I expected”

Two top-five finishes at the Estoril World Superbike round left Jonathan Rea in a positive mood after the penultimate round of the 2024 season.

Rea was fourth in Race 2, a result which was his best of the season in a full-distance race.

The only poor result for Rea was his 22nd in the Superpole Race, which came after a crash.

“About half distance I went into the chicane, and just as I changed direction I had some chatter and just chattered off the edge of the tyre,” Rea told WorldSBK.com.

“I was pushing, of course, as well, pushing on the limit. I really tried to save it.

“It caused no damage to the bike or my leathers, it was completely on my elbow and my knee, and I tried to actually dig the front tyre in to hopefully pick me up, but it wasn’t coming around.

“Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone behind me or in my path.

“I was able to remount, and I actually posted my fastest lap of the race after that and when I wasn’t in traffic, so that gave me some confidence that, at least with the long race and with the race tyre, that I could do a solid enough job.

“But the class is stacked right now, so you have to really take benefit of track position and do a really solid race just to have something to shout about at the end.”

Despite the crash, though, Rea said that his Race 2 was barely complicated by his poor Superpole Race result because his start was so good.

“Unfortunately, just didn’t start my morning great, so that meant I started 10th,” he said, “but that didn’t really matter because I made such a good start.

“That 0-200kph was good, and I found myself in good track position for turn one.

“Iker [Lecuona] came past quite early, so there was the front group, and then Loka [Andrea Locatelli], Iker, and me.

“The rhythm was very similar, and then both those guys went down and suddenly I found myself all on my own and I was so nervous.

“From that point, I just tried to do my rhythm — it felt like I’d been riding on the limit, so I just backed off that little bit, but it was a long race, so it was just about trying not to make any mistakes.”

Rea took two top-five finishes from the races this weekend, leaving him feeling positive despite still significant gaps to the leaders.

“5-4 for the weekend, it’s by far and away our best weekend, and something to build on for sure,” he said.

“The gap to the front is still quite big, but if we forget about that and look at the progress I’ve made and the team’s made in these last few rounds — coming back from injury in Aragon was a tough one, so to rebound here with some positivity, it’s been solid.”

It’s taken until round 11 of 12 for Rea to post his best results of 2024, something he says is down to him continuing to improve his understanding of the Yamaha R1, especially on new tyres.

“Our bike, we know its weaknesses, but we know it’s strengths, and it’s about trying to exploit the best of the Yamaha R1,” he said.

“Honestly, I’m still getting there, understanding how to get the best out of the bike with fresh tyres. I think slowly but surely we’re getting there.

“But, hopefully, if I’m there and capitalise and can start trusting the bike on the limit, I can get that track position and be less vulnerable to passes.

“I want to arrive tomorrow, but it really is step-by-step, it’s taken a lot longer than I expected to understand everything.

“I have reason to be optimistic, we can’t give up on this. Especially, at the end of the season, we’re just starting to see some fruits of all our labour.”