Six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea recently ended a 13-race podium drought with a third-place finish in the Superpole race at Donington.
The Irishman admits that he’s still getting his head wrapped around the Pata Prometeon Yamaha R1 WorldSBK race bike he switched over to this season after a nine-year run with Kawasaki, but this weekend’s visit to the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic is another opportunity to take a step forward.
“I feel good,” he says. “Obviously I’m still disappointed that we’re not super-competitive, but Donington was a step in the right direction. I really underestimated the change with Yamaha this year, and working with a completely different crew and trying to understand the bike and how I can extract all of it potential has just taken me more time. Confidence is building slowly but surely, but you always want more.
“Donington was good for us. We got our first podium there and I was able to be competitive in the Superpole race, as well. So yeah, some good times but we still need to put it all together and try to fight at the front more consistently. We just hope Donington wasn’t just a flash in the pan, you know? We want to be consistently good every weekend.”
Eighteen years into his World Superbike career and winless since Race 1 on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR at the Autodrom Most last July, Rea hopes to get back to his winning ways come Saturday in the Czech Republic.
“I’m so hungry to win,” says Rea. “I just need to keep going. I feel like Yamaha are buying into getting on board and listening and trying to make the changes we need to make to be competitive. I really feel like with experience, now I know what the bike needs. In World Superbike now, from a development point of view and manufacturer support, everything is at an all-time high. As a group, we need to make a step. From a manufacturer to a team to a rider, we need to make a step. We just need to try and get everybody on board to try and make that step together, and I’m sure we can be back and fighting at the front more regularly and more often.”
Hindering Rea in his transition to Yamaha in 2024 has been the large and numerous gaps in the schedule.
“It couldn’t have been a worse calendar for me,” he says. “Now we’ve got a couple of back-to-back races with the Czech Republic and with Portugal. The back end of the season will come in such quick succession that it’s going to be a really good calendar for the rest of the year. We want to just try and build some momentum. Donington was a good start. We changed some working methods inside the team and it seemed to have some positives, so we are just trying to create some momentum and try and snowball into this back end of the year.
“The bike has potential, but we still need to make a step. It is no secret that there are some clear areas that we need to develop. Yamaha are on board with that, as well. It is extremely hard in a series that is close to production-based bikes and with regulations so hard, it is very difficult.
“We are trying to make some progress. We are all on the same page. We all want to win. But it is tough, man. It’s one of those things where we just need to keep our heads above water and keep trying and realize that our day will come.”
Undaunted and driven to get the R1 sorted out and in potentially winning form, Rea has worked at rallying and encouraging the Yamaha racing team from top to bottom.
“It’s tough because I’m a winner and it’s tough going through these motions. Something is not clicking. We need to keep working to build my confidence. Yes, the team is on board with that. They have given me patience and have been trying in different ways to try and extract all the potential from the bike. I think we definitely need more technical support and I need feeling on the bike better. We’re just working to try and exploit all that because I have no doubt in my ability. We need to really make a step with the bike. And the team and the crew and I’m sure we’ll get back there to where we should be.”
Encouraged that he and the Pata Prometeon Yamaha team have continued to improve the R1, Rea is optimistic about the approaching summer WorldSBK rounds.
“There is potential,” he says. “Not as much as I would like. You always want more as a rider, and I feel like I’m starting to understand how to get the best out of the Yamaha R1. I’m giving a hand now to the engineers in trying to work on all that feedback. This race will be the halfway point of the season. Hopefully we can get some good scores on the board and then look into the summer rounds and finish off the year strong.
“I have a two-year deal with Yamaha. I don’t want to rest. I always just look to the next race. I’m not thinking about next year yet. First I need to get to the end of this year and to be competitive. I needed a change. Sometimes in life, if you don’t make a change, you don’t grow. I feel like this is really character building for me. It’s not only going to make me stronger as a rider, but also as a person. The dream is to try and win a race. That would be incredible. That’s my target. That would make the change to Yamaha success story. So yeah, we’ll keep working with that target in our brain. But first and foremost, I just need to get more comfortable and try and be a little bit more consistent.”