Jonathan Rea with “a lot of room for improvement” after first day of Jerez WorldSBK test

The first day of this week’s Jerez test, featuring a number of WorldSBK teams, was positive for Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea, although he felt there was still “room for improvement”.

Rea said that he used two similar bikes on the first day in Jerez, which was also his first working with new crew chief Oriol Pallares, and that the second day of the test is where new development items from Yamaha will be introduced.

“We finished with a smile,” Rea told WorldSBK.com. “We got straight into work, started with a base setup that Uri [Oriol Pallares, Rea’s crew chief] had come up with, along with the Yamaha guys, and both bikes were very similar.

“Quite early in the test, I felt one bike was better, so we tried to achieve that same feeling with the other bike, and we found some positives and negatives.

“The first steps we made from a chassis point of view were in a positive direction. I was riding very consistently.

“We also have to be honest with ourselves that Jerez is always strange in winter; it can sometimes give false feelings and a lot of grip.

“Comparatively to everybody else, I felt my pace was quite good on day one but with a lot of room for improvement.

“We didn’t test so many new items; that’s more for Wednesday that we’ll start to work through the Yamaha test plan.”

Andrea Locatelli’s season ended in a better fashion to Rea’s, with top-five finishes in each of the three races in Jerez, including a podium in Race 1. The first day, Locatelli said, was spent getting back to the feeling he had at the final race of 2024.

“We did 70 laps in total and today the focus was riding and trying some things and to get back the good feeling we had at Jerez from the last race,” the Italian said.

“I’m quite happy. We weren’t working for the lap time, so this is a normal day one for us, to get back the feeling with the bike and looking to prepare for day two because this will be more important for us. Maybe we’ll try something extra.”

Rea’s factory Yamaha teammate, Andrea Locatelli, hinted that part of his focus this winter is on taking less time to get up to speed at the start of the weekend, especially at races where conditions can be changeable.

“In general, I’m quite happy,” he said. “Immediately, I was riding well. It’s important for me, after a long time with Yamaha, that when I get back on the bike I start to be immediately faster as it’s important for the weekend; especially when the conditions could be like at Assen, where it could be sunny and raining.

“If we can be fast immediately, this is a big advantage for us. Step by step, I increased my level with this area.

“There were no mistakes, a good rhythm and feeling with the bike and I’m looking forward to what more I’m trying on Wednesday.”