Jonathan Rea “satisfied” with Yamaha “work” at Jerez WorldSBK test

The two-day Jerez test was the final chance for many WorldSBK riders to get on-track before the end of 2024, including for Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea.

The Northern Irish rider explained that his work in Jerez mostly regarded the front end setup of the bike, as well as some developments in terms of electronics.

“I’m satisfied with the work that we’ve done over these two days,” Rea said.

“In the end, we have a lot of items to try this winter but during this test in particular it was important to work on my feeling with the R1 and regain some confidence in areas that I struggled with a bit this year.

“We focused on the front end of the bike, being able to stop and be more aggressive flicking the bike to the apex.

“We tried some different electronic items and fine-tuned our base setup — the start point when we arrived was good so we were able to move through the programme efficiently.

“I’m happy because we were able to be fast on the SCQ tyre, race tyres and deliver consistency in the lap times, building my feeling again.”

Rea “had no doubts” about new crew chief

The Jerez test also marked Rea’s first time working with his new crew chief, Oriol Pallares.

According to the six-times champion, Pallares’ introduction to the role of crew chief, after being Rea’s chief mechanic until the end of the 2024 season, went smoothly.

“He got a massive round of applause from everybody at the end of the day because it’s no easy thing, just coming in and slotting in the way he’s done,” Rea said at the end of the first day of the test, which was also his working with Pallares as his crew chief.

Rea added that the reason for the choice of Pallares, who replaces Andrew Pitt in the role, was because of how he understands Rea, having worked with him during his Kawasaki years.

“I was quite happy. I had no doubts he could step into that role and do it very well. That was the clear target, to have somebody who really understood me and tried to get the best out of me.

“That’s not going to be easy in a championship that’s so competitive right now as WorldSBK is.

“I don’t doubt myself, but I need a bit extra, I need people to drag the best out of me and help me with developing the bike. Certainly, from his point of view, the way he’s managed the test plan, the guys, and the atmosphere, is really cool.

“I’m also impressed with how he’s working with Yamaha to organise when we test, how we test, new parts coming.

“But also Yamaha; they’ve been working and recently haven’t gone to sleep since halfway through the year to develop the bike. The biggest thing from a visual point of view is the wings that were added to the 2025 bike, but that’s just scratching the surface.

“Next year, I expect that we can take a good step forward with all the development ideas the Yamaha guys had over the winter.”