Jonathan Rea names two areas of improvement for his Yamaha

Jonathan Rea has identified two areas of improvement for his Yamaha.

Rea and Pata Maxus Yamaha teammate Andrea Locatelli were forced to end their testing programme early on Wednesday due to the weather at Portimao.

With two out of three preseason testing dates now complete before the 2025 World Superbike Championship begins, Rea knows what he wants from his Yamaha.

“It’s been a solid test, we confirmed some new items both here and in Jerez that we were a bit unsure of for going to the first round so that’s always a positive,” Rea said.

“We didn’t quite get down to any really meaningful race simulations or time attacks as the Portimao track was not in the best condition [on Tuesday] with a lot of rivers running through it at Turn 4 and Turn 14, but we could be fast enough to understand the bike and understand the feeling.

“We confirmed some development items and I could be quite fast on the race tyres.

“There are still some areas that we need to improve, I need a bit more stability and feeling on the front, and that’s something we’ll focus on during the Monday and Tuesday test at Phillip Island.

“This winter has been tough for the weather, but it’s the same for everybody, we can be satisfied with the work we’ve done and now we move on to the first round.

“The target is to go to Australia and enjoy the bike, make no mistakes and score well in all three races.”

Yamaha prep 'compromised' by weather

Locatelli added: “We tried a couple of things before the rain, and worked on pit stop strategies for Phillip Island but yesterday was a good day on track – we just focused on riding the bike and understand if the things that we tried in Jerez can be fully confirmed.

“More or less, we are happy! The conditions were difficult for these winter tests, so we did not ride too much, but the feeling is quite good overall.

“ I’m looking forward to being ready for Phillip Island now! I want to be positive because last year we had an impressive race weekend there with two podiums and I know I can be strong on this track.

“Now Yamaha has some time to go over the data from these two tests, and we will work in Australia to complete a couple of good runs there during the two days of testing when we arrive to prepare as much as we can for the races.

“Every year can be different, but I am fully motivated and try to do my best like always!”

Team boss Paul Denning added: “The last part of our 2025 preparations has been compromised somewhat by inclement weather and storm conditions across the south of Europe, but to be fair, it has affected our competitors in exactly the same way.

“Despite the weather, we managed to achieve some very good work in terms of comparing new developments that arrived from Yamaha and to confirm some of the improvements made – particularly on Jonathan’s side – during the November Jerez test.

“Loka had a tough start to 2025 with his feeling on the bike in very windy conditions last week in Jerez, but had a very solid and consistent day yesterday in Portimao.

“There is further reason for optimism as Jonathan has taken a step forward in feeling and performance going into this season, confirmed by very strong performances and a really great work ethic across these two tests.

“It’s not long to go now before the first round in Phillip Island, and we’re excited to see what Pata Maxus Yamaha can achieve in 2025.”