Jonathan Rea: 2024 “the most difficult season of my whole career”
“A part of me that wants to completely forget about this disappointing and challenging season.”
Jonathan Rea’s first season with Yamaha will come to an end this weekend.
Although there have been positive signs of late, it’s ultimately been a difficult season with results below the expectations of both the six-times champion and the manufacturer that won the WorldSBK title only three years ago.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend,” Rea told WorldSBK.com ahead of this weekend’s final round in Jerez.
“Parts of me are really excited about Jerez and trying to cap off the season in a good way, and then a part of me that wants to completely forget about this disappointing and challenging season as a whole and re-focus for ’25.”
The positives, for Rea, begin in Estoril, where he had his best weekend so far in the blue of Yamaha last weekend.
This weekend, in Jerez, Rea is also returning to the circuit where he first rode the R1 back in November 2023.
“It’s nice because we’re coming from a good weekend at Estoril,” he said.
“From what I understand, the base setup we have now is very similar to when first rode the bike last year in November. With all the changes we’ve made, we’ve come back to a happy base setting.
“I feel like I’m more optimistic going into here than I was going into Estoril, but in the end, Estoril turned out to be a positive one.
“In all honesty, when I first rode the Yamaha, I loved the feeling of the bike. It wasn’t a full grid at the test, but I still felt quite fast.”
The positive start meant that the season that’s followed has been unexpected, even if the six-times WorldSBK Champion is now able to see positive changes coming.
“I couldn’t imagine this being the most difficult season of my whole career,” Rea said.
“We know it’s challenging times, but I really feel better days are coming. I know Yamaha are working really hard in the background to improve the bike in all different aspects.
“I feel there’s reasons to be optimistic that we can be more competitive next year. It’s just piecing all the bits together, all the marginal gains.
“I’ll work on myself, trying to improve, because I don’t feel the team, or the bike, are getting my full potential right now.”
