WorldSBK: Jonathan Rea: “The more laps I do the more confidence I get, already competitive”
‘I feel competitive already’ - Jonathan Rea has warned his WorldSBK rivals ahead of the 2024 season.
Rea has completed just four days of running aboard the Yamaha R1 but is already feeling at home ahead of his 15th season in WorldSBK.
The last nine of those have taken place with Kawasaki, where he won all six of his world championships.
- Alvaro Bautista diagnosed with ‘cervical nerves compression’ damage
- Gardner: Rea ‘seems really happy with Yamaha bike, easy to ride’
But now onto his third manufacturer, Rea has a fresh start and is feeling excited after another positive test at Jerez.
Rea: “It's been really positive and I've really enjoyed riding the bike at this test, especially on day one when the temperature was warmer than expected and similar to the race.
“We were able to get a lot of work done. I had 3 bikes to try different options on and loads of different parts.
“We never managed to put everything together to be perfect but we still have a lot of time and we got through the main test items.
“We managed just about everything on the list; some items we can discard, some very interesting going forwards.”
While fast over one lap, Rea also completed race simulations and felt positive about his potential.
Helping him get more comfortable, Rea’s final race stint allowed him to get a better understanding on how the R1 behaves in different conditions.
Rea told WorldSBK.com: “I completed the test with a race simulation which was positive; the more laps I do on the R1, the more I understand it and how it behaves in certain conditions and also, the more confidence I get.
“I don't feel like I've found the limit with the bike yet. I'm understanding the last part of braking but I feel competitive already. We did 173 laps and 766km so the guys did well.
“Big thanks to all the mechanics: they work so hard, working with three bikes and a lot of changes.
“It's been an intense but very valuable couple of days. It's a nice way to sign off 2023, everyone can go back and everyone can get a good rest until the next test at the end of January.”
